Govt under fire for withdrawing Hajj subsidy

ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Friday criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government for withdrawing subsidy for the pilgrims in the Hajj Policy 2019.

Speaking to the media, he said the people claiming to turn Pakistan into a Medina-like state have made it difficult for people to fulfill the religious obligation of Hajj.

“The government has given the nation the most expensive package in the history of the country,” said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president. “It feels that the government has turned Hajj into a source of its revenue. The PTI’s is the first cabinet which has given no subsidy on Hajj.”

Why didn’t the government pass the benefit of decrease in fuel prices on to the pilgrims, he questioned. “The government will have to realise that Hajj is an act of worship and not a business.”

It is to mention here that the government in its new Hajj Policy withdrawn subsidy on the pilgrimage, which increases the expenses by Rs. 1,76,000 for each pilgrim and the overall amount for pilgrimage reached to Rs 4,56,000.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Muhammad Khan, while giving the government’s explanation on the matter said that the government pays 70% of Hajj expenses in advance to Saudi government, which has enhanced travel, boarding and lodging expenses. The PML-N government had let the Hajj amount of 2017 unchanged in the election year. He called it a misstatement the pilgrims being stopped from offering the pilgrimage.