MARGAO: The Haj Committees of Goa and India have assured to increase the subsidy for Haj pilgrimage with the help of the Central government.
The Haj Committee of Goa has assured that it would find pilgrims to fill all the seats in Haj flights which would in turn reduce the cost of flight ticket.
The exhaustion of the Haj pilgrimage subsidy and the consequential reduction in the embarkation points of Haj pilgrims has created stir amongst the Muslims of Goa and also in India. Since the embarkation point of Goa has been removed, the air fare to travel to Mangalore, Bangalore or Mumbai and then to Haj has increased the fares. The fare from Goa to Mumbai and Mumbai to Haj is now Rs 81,536 compared to Mumbai to Haj which is Rs 58,254.
All India Haj Committee Vice President Shaikh Jina said, “The review committee constituted by Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has conducted a survey all over the country to find what makes the pilgrimage costly.”
The survey has revealed that reducing the embarkation points from 21 to 9 has made the pilgrimage costly.
“The cost will shoot up from Rs 2.05 lakh to Rs 2.35 lakh for a Goan pilgrim and the green category will be increased from Rs 2.4 lakhs to Rs 2.8 lakh,” Jina said.
Jina informed that South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar and TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai along with All Goan Haj Committee members and Muslims have demanded that the embarkation has to remain in Goa.
