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The Haj subsidy is a subsidy given to Indian Muslim Hajj pilgrims by the Government of India. The program has its origins in British colonial era.〔 In post-colonial era, the Nehru government expanded the program in 1959 with the Hajj Act.〔(The Haj Committee Act, 1959 ) Government of India〕 The subsidy and taxpayer funded arrangements initially applied to Muslim Indian pilgrims traveling for religious reasons to Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan. Since 1973, pilgrims applying through the Haj Committee of India are offered a concessionary fare on Air India.〔Press Information Bureau, ("Hajj operation in India 2006" ), December 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2009.〕 Haj subsidy started in 1954, as an idea initiated by the then government, with flights between Mumbai and Jeddah. Additional flight legs were added over the years, and since 1984, all Haj traffic has been shared by Air India and Saudia, the national carriers of India and Saudi Arabia.The monopoly of these airlines has proven the most contentious point of the subsidy.〔()〕 Since 2000, over 1.5 million Muslims have used the subsidy; since 2008, over 120,000 Indian Muslim every year make use of the subsidy.〔 The Hajj subsidy includes an airfare subsidy as well as assistance to Muslim pilgrims for domestic travel to reach specially designed Haj departure airport terminals, meal, medical care and lodging assistance〔 provided by the Government of India.〔(Annual Report ) Ministry of External Affairs, India〕〔(Haj Assistant Travel Advertisement ) Ministry of Railways, Government of India, January 2014〕 The average airfare subsidy was about per Muslim pilgrim in 2008; while the average non-airfare financial assistance was per pilgrim.〔〔Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, (LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION 300 ANSWERED ON 16.03.2011 ), See ANNEXURES-I〕 The total subsidy provided by the Government of India was US$1,815 per Muslim pilgrim in 2008. In May 2012, the Supreme Court of India ordered the government to end the practice by 2022.〔 "We direct the Central government to progressively reduce the amount of subsidy so as to completely eliminate it within a period of 10 years from today," said a bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana P Desai.〔(http://m.timesofindia.com/india/Abolish-haj-subsidy-in-10-years-Supreme-Court-to-government/articleshow/13059420.cms )〕 "The subsidy money may be more profitably used for uplift of the community in education and other indices of social development," said Justice Alam, who wrote the order. The court said it has no authority to speak on the minority community's behalf and that it would be presumptuous to tell the Muslims what was a good or bad religious practice even though it cited Quran to say that haj pilgrimage was mandatory only for those who could afford the expenses for travelling, food and accommodation.〔(http://m.timesofindia.com/india/Abolish-haj-subsidy-in-10-years-Supreme-Court-to-government/articleshow/13059420.cms )〕 ==History== ;Pre-1947 British Raj era The Haj subsidy traces its origins to the British colonial era. In 1932, the British colonial government enacted The Port Haj Committees Act, which provided for government funded Haj Committee and named Bombay and Calcutta as two embarkation points for Haj by Muslims in British India.〔 Along with Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937, the Haj Committees Act was one of a series of laws passed by the British colonial government to address Muslim demands in a riot torn, pre-partition South Asia.〔(History of Haj Announcement India ) Government of Uttar Pradesh, India〕〔Duncan and Derrett (1968), Religion, Law and the State in India, Free Press, New York〕〔The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937; Universal Law Publishing, New Delhi; pp 3-7〕 The colonial government also granted a monopoly for sea-based Haj pilgrimage by South Asian Muslims to Mogul Line ships, owned by the British company Turner Morrison & Co. Ltd. ;Post-colonial era In 1959, Indian government repealed and replaced the 1932 Act, enacting ''Haj Committee Act'', which expanded the colonial era law, and allocated taxpayer funds to subsidize the cost incurred by Indian Muslim pilgrims to visit Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan. This act covered subsidy for private passengers as well as general expenses such as medical care staff, by sea, on a ship from or to the port of Bombay to or from any port in the Red Sea other than Suez.〔 The subsidy was then called the Haj subsidy. Article 16 of the 1959 law also created a taxpayer financed Haj Fund to cover overhead expenses.〔 ;From sea travel to air travel The Haj subsidy was modified in 1973, when the Indian government abolished sea travel as a means of making the Hajj for two reasons - rising oil prices after formation of OPEC and a ship accident that killed 39 pilgrims in June 1973 during the government managed Haj trip.〔(Mogul Line History ) Ship List〕 The government of India replaced the means of travel to Saudi Arabia from ships to aircraft. The government simultaneously increased the subsidy to cover the difference between sea and air fares.〔 Since 1994 the round trip cost to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has been fixed at per pilgrim, and the government has footed the rest of the bill. In 2007 the government spent per passenger.〔Shauvik Ghosh, ("Haj subsidy has Air India fuming" ), ''The Financial Express'', 13 September 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2009〕 In the year 2009 the cost was . Ministry of Civil Aviation provides subsidy for air travel to the pilgrims through the Haj Committee of India.The amount on air travel charged per pilgrim during Haj 2014 was Rs. 35,000/- whereas the actual air fare ranged from Rs. 63,750 to Rs. 1,63,350 depending on the embarkation point in India which were always higher than normal charges of air tickets. For Haj-2015, an amount of Rs. 42,000/- will be charged as airfare from each pilgrim performing Haj through HCOI. The subsidy amount extended was Rs.836.56 crores in 2012 to Rs. 680.03 crores in 2013. In 2014, it has further reduced to Rs. 533 crores.〔(https://factly.in/hajj-pilgrimage-subsidy-india/ )〕 ;Supreme Court order to abolish Haj subsidy In 2012, the Supreme Court of India ordered that Haj subsidy must end by 2022.〔(SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (CIVIL) NO.28609 OF 2011 ) Supreme Court of India〕 The Supreme Court found that Hajj by Indian Muslims is funded to a substantial extent by the Indian Government. The Court ruled that this subsidy is not only unconstitutional but inconsistent with the teachings of Quran. The Court cited Quran verse 97 in Surah 3, Al-e-Imran ordains as under: "In it are manifest signs (for example), the Maqam (place) of Ibrahim (Abraham); whosoever enters it, he attains security. And Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) to the House (Ka’bah) is a duty that mankind owes to Allah, those who can afford the expenses (for one’s conveyance, provision and residence); and whoever disbelieves (denies Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah), then he is a disbeliever of Allah ), then Allah stands not in need of any of the Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists).”〔 The Court directed the Central Government to progressively reduce the amount of Haj subsidy and abolish it by 2022. The Court, in its 2012 order, said the Centre should invest that amount in education and other development measures for the minority community.〔( http://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/Centre-Mulls-Ending-All-Pilgrimage-Subsidies/2015/01/18/article2623888.ece)〕 also directed the Indian government to stop providing Hajj subsidies to Muslims identified by central government as ''very important person'' (VIP), ''very very important person'' (VVIP), and the special ''dignitaries and eminent persons'' nominations of 3,000 Muslims per year under so-called Goodwill Delegation to Saudi Arabia.〔 In August 2010, the Minority Affairs Ministry formally opposed providing subsidy for Haj pilgrimage, saying the scheme, was contrary to the teachings of Islam. The Government of India has proposed that starting from 2011, the amount of government subsidy per person will be decreased, and by 2017 will be ended completely. (Instead, “a premium would be charged from better-off Hajis to cross-subsidise the travel cost for the less well-off Hajis”.) The Centre had informed the Supreme Court that it had decided to restrict Haj pilgrimage at government subsidy to Muslims only as a "once in a lifetime" affair as against the existing policy of "once in five years". In an affidavit filed before the apex court, the government said the new guidelines have been framed to ensure that priority is given to those applicants who have never performed Haj. The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by the Centre challenging a Bombay high court judgement which had directed the Ministry of External Affairs to allow certain private operators to operate the services of 800 of the 11,000 pilgrims earmarked under the VIP quota subsidised by the government. Earlier, the bench had pulled up the Centre's practice of "politicising" the annual Haj pilgrimage by permitting official delegations to accompany the pilgrims, for which the government offers huge subsidy, saying, "It's a bad religious practice." On 27 July 2012, the Supreme Court declined Centre's request to defer till next year its 23 July order down sizing the government's discretionary quota to 300 from the proposed 5,050 seats and had hoped these would be allotted on "reasonable basis". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Haj subsidy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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