Eye on Assembly polls, UPA talks of returning Haj subsidy to all

‘‘It will first have to go the Cabinet for approval and then the PM will make the announcement at an appropriate time,’’ he said.

The PM himself, Jaiswal said, was agreeable to the idea. ‘‘He assured me that the pre-2003 status will be restored as regards subsidies,’’ he said, adding that he had told the PM of the hardships pilgrims faced last year when the NDA government introduced restrictions.

The Vajpayee government had imposed conditions for Haj subsidy eligibility — the pilgrim must be on his first trip to Mecca, not be an Income Tax assessee, and must stay only in acommodation provided by the Haj Committee. Jaiswal said the government planned to extend subsidy now to all pilgrims, whether they were income tax payees or not.

‘‘All such conditions would be done away with. The pilgrims, before 2003, were paying a subsidised air fare of Rs 20,000 each. But last year, thanks to the NDA government, they had to shell out Rs 45,000 each. We will restore the subsidies to the 2002 level. It will help lakhs of people,’’ Jaiswal said.

But in reality, the subsidy was even higher. Before the NDA government order, a pilgrim would pay only Rs 12,000 for an air ticket which actually cost Rs 41,000. Jaiswal said the demand to restore subsidies to all had been put before him by some Maulanas he had met in Lucknow. ‘‘They told me that your party fought for us in Parliament and that now that it is your government, you must do something for us. So we will be taking this step.’’