No plan to reduce Haj subsidy: Pranab Mukherjee

New Delhi, Aug 23: The government today categorically stated that it did not intend to reduce the Haj subsidy but pointed out that a decision on increasing the number of pilgrims to the holiest of Muslim shrines rested solely with the Saudi Arabian government.

Replying to a string of supplementaries on the issue in the Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Supreme Court, vide its order of May 7 this year, had extended the stay on the operation of of an order of the Allahabad High Court discontinuing subsidies to the Haj pilgrims.

He said the Centre had obtained a stay on the order of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court by filing a petition in the Supreme Court.

Mr Mukherjee said that during the pendency of the matter in the apex court, the existing arrangement would continue for this year also.

''The previous hearing in the issue was held in June. We cannot speculate what order the Supreme Court and the High Court will take.

But when the final judgement is available, the government will take appropriate action,'' he pointed out.

With regard to the query whether the government was contemplating increasing the quota of Haj pilgrims, the minister made it abundantly clear that the quota was detrmined not by the Central government but by the government of Saudi Arabia.

Elaborating, he said the Saudi Arabian government had devised a system of quota that entails a thousand pilgrims per one million Muslim population in a country.

Quoting the latest census figures, Mr Mukherjee said India has a Muslim population of 147 million. Consequently, India is entitled to a quota of 147,000 Haj pilgrims.

However, Saudi Arabia conceded the request for an additional 10,000 pilgrims last year, taking the India quota to 157,000 pilgrims.

''This year also, a similar arrangement is likely,'' he informed the House.

Mr Mukherjee said the government had received 190,000 applications for the Haj pilgrimage, but it could not approve all the applications because of the constraints of the quota system. In this connection, he said one would need to appreciate the problem of logistics the Saudi Arabian government would have to grapple with if there was a substantial increase in the quotas for different countries.

To a suggestion from Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi that the Haj subsidy should be gradually reduced, Mr Mukherjee said the government did not subscribe to this view.

On the other hand, he defended a periodic hike in the subsidy, saying one could not be oblivious of increase in the cost of travelling. ''We must take into account the increase in air fare and also the increase in number of Haj pilgrims,'' he said, adding that there was a need for better fiscal management.

Replying to supplementaries from Shahid Siddiqui (SP) and Dr M S Gill (Cong), the minister said an Expert Group, headed by Mohammad Hamid Ansari -- now the Vice-President of India and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha -- was set up to look into the Haj pilgrimage in its entire gamut, including amenities for the pilgrims.

Mr Mukherjee said the Prime Minister had appointed a Group of Ministers to look into the group's recommendations.

''We have accepted most of the recommendations and only a Cabinet nod is required,'' he said, exuding hope that these recommendations would become effective from this year.

The minister also ruled out a demand that every MP should be allowed to make recommendations for the Haj pilgrimage, saying such a system would be unfair.

''At present there are a total of 788 MPs. A large number of MPs are not directly concerned with it. Only Muslims MPs are concerned with it but we cannot make a distinction between Muslim and non-Muslim MPs in this regard,'' he argued.

He also said the recommendations are made by the Haj Committees and ''if we (MPs) start fixing the quota by making recommendations, it will not be fair.

Mr Mukherjee, however, said he was fully aware of the sensitivity of the issue, which was being looked into by Minister of State for External Affairs Minister E. Ahamed.

Dr Gill wanted to know whether the government would go the Supreme Court to have a clear-cut policy on subsidising religious pilgrimages and accord equal treatment to all the citizens.

He said there are also Christian and Jew pilgrims while the Sikhs undertake pilgrims to Nankana Sahib in Pakistan and the Hindus undertake an arduous journey to Kailash Mansarovar, but there is no subsidy scheme for them.

Mr Mukherjee said this was a very sensitive issue but it would not be possible to discuss it during Question Hour because of time constraint. ''But there can be a structured debate on the issue in the House,'' he observed.

He also said the government was providing some support to the Mansarovar pilgrims, not in terms of financial support but by providing logistics.

Mr Siddiqui said government officials accompanying Haj pilgrims were selected not on merit but through recommendations, and they were not bothered about the welfare of the pilgrims.

Mr Mukherjee said the expert group had been formed precisely to assess Haj pilgrimages on an annual basis.

UNI