[HumJanenge] Govt Spent Rs 3,554.78 Crore on Hajj Subsidy Last Decade

Please read this supreme court judgment  Prafull Goradia Vs. Union of India (UOI) - Jan 28 2011 Issue Haj Committee Act, 1959; Haj Committee Act, 2002; Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1951; Income Tax Act; Central Excise Act; Sales Tax Act; Central Provinces and Berar Act; Constitution of India - Articles 14, 15, 27 and 32 Synopsis This Writ Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution had been initially filed challenging the constitutional validity of the Haj Committee Act 1959, but thereafter by an amendment application the Haj Committee Act of 2002 which replaced the 1959 Act, has been challenged. The ground for challenge was that the said Act is violative of Articles 14, 15, and 27 of the Constitution. The grievance of the Petitioner was that he is a Hindu but he has to pay direct and indirect taxes, part of whose proceeds go for the purpose of the Haj pilgrimage, which is only done by Muslims. This court relied upon Government of Andhra Pradesh v. P. Laxmi Devi AIR 2008 SC 1640 where the court held that Court should exercise great restraint when deciding the constitutionality of a statute, and every effort should be made to uphold its validity. Parliament has the legislative competence to enact the Haj Committee Act in view of entry 20 to List 1 of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution which states: "Pilgrimages to places outside India". On this ground petition was dismissed.   --- On Thu, 17/3/11, Govind... Hoping for better <hopegovind@gmail.com> wrote: From: Govind... Hoping for better <hopegovind@gmail.com> Subject: [rti4ngo] Re: [HumJanenge] Govt Spent Rs 3,554.78 Crore on Hajj Subsidy Last Decade To: humjanenge@googlegroups.com Cc: "afroz sahil" <afroz.alam.sahil@gmail.com>, nrindians@googlegroups.com, "National RTI Forum" <nationalrtiforum@gmail.com>, "rti amita" <isst_field_office@yahoo.co.in>, "irfan khan" <rtirti.khan@gmail.com>, "urvashi sharma" <rtimahilamanchup@yahoo.co.in>, rti-times@lists.riseup.net, rti.lucknow@rediffmail.com, rti4empowerment@yahoogroups.com, rti4ngo@yahoogroups.com, rti@ndtv.com, rti_india@yahoogroups.com, rtiap2005@gmail.com, rtimahilamanchup@yahoogroups.co.in, rtiwaari@gmail.com, "aruna roy" <arunaroy@gmail.com>, "Arundhati Roy" <perhaps@vsnl.net>, "navaid hamid" <navaidhamid@yahoo.co.in>, humanrightrevolution@yahoo.co.in, "Humanrightsactivist Yahoogroups" <humanrightsactivist@yahoogroups.com>, "hindi-hain-hum" <Hindi-hain-hum@googlegroups.com>, "HumJanenge" <HumJanenge@yahoogroups.co.in>, GRASSROOTS-in-action@googlegroups.com, indian-muslim-media@googlegroups.com, "groups" <goodnewsbihar@googlegroups.com>, goodasyoubngalore@yahoo.com, asiaexpressgrp@gmail.com Date: Thursday, 17 March, 2011, 6:09 PM   The Supreme Court is now also puppet of Government If subsidy is allowed for a specific community, then it should be for all Same subsidy should be allowed to Hindus for Mansarovar, Buddhist for their pilgrimages. This is simply votebank politics As per constitution we are secular but where we are? State is not supposed to interfere in religious matter, should not support or promote a specific religious group but this is happening. Even the Quran says, one should do Haj ny his/ her own earned money through right way. Removing Haj subsidy how can disrupt harmony of the nation? If it disrupts then refusal to say Vande Mataram, hosting Pakistani flags, supporting Pakistani cricketers during match don't do the same thing? Govind On 17 March 2011 16:11, afroz sahil <afroz.alam.sahil@gmail.com> wrote: Link: http://beyondheadlines.in/2011/03/govt-spent-rs-3554-78-crore-on-hajj-subsidy-last-decade/ Govt Spent Rs 3,554.78 Crore on Hajj Subsidy Last Decade Posted by admin Exclusive, India, Latest News, Lead, Society Thursday, March 17th, 2011 Afroz Alam Sahil and M. Reyaz, BeyondHeadlines New Delhi: "The Muslim community has never asked for the subsidy that you give," Rajya Sabha (upper house) Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan, who is also Congress party MP in the house from Karnataka, made this statement while speaking on the 'working of the Ministry of Minority Affairs'. This was in connection with the subsidy given by the Ministry of External Affairs to the pilgrims who go to Saudi Arabia every year to perform hajj. Pilgrims at Airport (Phot: Ratna Modak) Haj subsidy is given primarily on "air fare." Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi called it "cross subsidisation to Air India."  Documents obtained by BeyondHeadlines (BH) through the Right to Information Act (RTI) reveal that a total of Rs 3,554.78 crores was spent on hajj subsidy in past 10 years.  During 2008 and 2009 alone, the government spent Rs 854.77 crores, highest in a single year so far, on the hajj subsidy. In 2009-2010, it was reduced to Rs 690 crores. Year wise break up of money spend on Hajj Subsidy (Rs in crores) 2009-10 690.00 2008-09 854.77 2005-06 290.00 2004-05 198.00 2003-0 160.70 2002-03 172.00 2001-02 173.63 2000-01 156.68 A part of this money is also spent on the Hajj Goodwill Delegation send every year. Faiz Ahmed Faiz, national vice president of the minority wing of the Nationalist Congress Party, is suspicious of government's intention. "If the community and its leaders are themselves demanding that subsidy should be abolished, why is the government so hesitant," he asks. He further added that "public money should not be diverted to air lines." Prafull Goradia , former Rajya Sabha member from the BJP, had filed a petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the validity of the Haj Committee Act, which provides for subsidy. However, a bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra rejected the petition in January this year arguing "if we wish to keep our country united, we need to have tolerance and equal respect for all communities and sects." The apex court has further observed this is "very small expenditure in proportion to the entire tax collected." It further pointed out that the respective state government incur expenditure to arrange for the Kumbh Mela (fair) or that the centre facilitates Indian citizens to go on pilgrimage to Mansarover. However, documents available with BH reveal that the government "does not give any subsidy to pilgrims/yatris participating in the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra." It, however, pays Rs 3,250 per pilgrim to "Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam, an Uttarakhand Government authority, for making logistical arrangements for the pilgrims/Yatris while on the Indian side." Year Haj Committee of India (No. of pilgrims actually traveled) Private tour Operators' Quota 2004 71,711 46,000 2005 80,786 46,000 2006-I 99,926 45,455 2006-II 108,373 46,930 2007 110,415 47,000 2008 121,787 44,780 2009 120,127 47,405 2010 125,850 (approx) 45,637* (*excluding Fayz-e-Hussiani Trust, Mumbai) Further, no such "goodwill delegation" is sent to Kailash Manasarover, although "a small official delegation (2-3 members) visits the Tibet Autonomous Region of China for inspecting the facilities available to the yatris going for Kailash Manasarovar once in 2-3 years." Hajj is compulsory only for those Muslims who can afford it, at least once in lifetime. While about Rs 1.25 lakh people go to perform official hajj or sarkari hajj on the government quota, roughly 45,000 go on their own though private operators. Maulana Mahmood Madani, Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, recently said at the Jamiat headquarter that the government should "abolish" subsidy. He further suggested that the government should learn from the Malysian experience.  In 1963, Malyaisa had introduced Lembaga Tabung Haji or the Malaysian Pilgrims Management Fund, which acts as "non-banking Islamic savings institution" to help prosective hajis save money. K. Rahman Khan too suggested creation of a statutory "logistic corporation." edit@beyondheadlines.in -- AFROZ ALAM 'SAHIL' Mobile:-+91-9891322178 Blog: http://suchnaexpress.blogspot.com       Save a tree. Don't print this e-mail unless it's really necessary -- ______________________________ "The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, But because of the silence of good people!" --Napoleon Govind- 9960704146 URL: http://www.wix.com/hopegovind/homepage Blog: http://simplygovind.blogspot.com __._,_.___ Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1) Recent Activity: Visit Your Group Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use . __,_._,___