The number of Indian pilgrims for Haj 2000 is estimated at about 1,20,000. It has virtually reached the maximum national level of 1 per cent of Muslim population, as recommended by the OIC. This was the second biggest national contingent. Of these, over 72,000 were managed by the Haj Committee, about 35,000 by private Haj tour opera tours and travel agencies and the rest were Indian nationals or foreign nationals of Indian origin residing in third countries. Haj is a once-in-a-life time journey to a foreign land for most pilgrims. Hence its management needs the involvement of the Government and the Muslim leadership and hence an autonomous and self-funding statutory body which command the confidence of the Government and the public. In the first. part of this article I deal with how best to organise the services provided by the Government and the subsequent article, I shall deal with how best the pilgrims can be organised and looked after.
The Haj Committee is the statutory body and the Ministry of External Affairs acts as the operational. Ministry. Unfortunately, the Haj Committee Act, 1959 is now totally outdated. Presently the Haj Committee is based in Mumbai, which used to serve as the sole point of exit and re-entry for Haj pilgrims, by sea and later by air. Now, with the abolition of sea passage and with Delhi, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Madras, Cochin and Calcutta serving as the points of exit and re-entry, the number of pilgrims handled at Mumbai has shrunk to only 15,000, with Delhi managing nearly 25,000 pilgrims. Since Mumbai served as the sole point of exit and entry, the Committee includes, under the existing Act, the representatives of the Maharashtra Assembly, the Government of Maharashtra, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the Mumbai Customs, the Mumbai Port Trust and the Mumbai Police, apart from the representatives of the Parliament and the Government of India.
Secondly, the Haj Committee not only formulates the Annual Haj Plan, invites Haj applications and manages the pilgrims' transportation to and from Jeddah, the release of foreign exchange to the pilgrims and accommodation in Mecca and Medina, in consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs, it also actually handles the pilgrims at Mumbai. while the handling is delegated to non-statutory State Haj Committees with jurisdiction over the other point of exist.
NEEDED A NEW HAJ ACT
The Haj Committee Act, thus urgently needs to be replaced by a new Act which has been on the anvil since 1978. The new Act should separate the policy-making and planning function from physical handling of the pilgrim and the Central Haj Committee and the Port Hajj Committee should be composed accordingly; the first should have the representatives of Muslim organisations of national eminence, Muslim parliamentarians and eminent professionals as well as representatives of all concerned Ministries of the Government of India - External Affairs Finance and Civil Aviation, while the Port Hajj Committees should have the representatives of local Muslim NGO's, whose objective is to assist the pilgrims, the State Government, the airport authority, the immigration, health and custom authorities at the airport, the local police, apart from the representatives of the Central and State Haj Committees.
The Central Haj. Committee should be located at New Delhi to facilitate interaction with the Central Government and the Saudi Arabian Embassy and to expedite pending decisions, assisted by the Port Haj Committees at everypoint of exit/re-entry.
ROLE OF INDIAN CONSULATE GENERAL
There Act should be clear demarcation of responsibility between the Haj Committee and the Consulate General of India, Jeddah, which, under the overall control of the Ministry of External Affairs and the supervision of the Embassy of India, Riyadh, should be primarily responsible for disembarkation of pilgrims and completion of formalities at Jeddah including the release of Saudi Riyals on arrival, their movements in Saudi Arabia, their accommodation in Mecca and Medina, their health and welfare while in Saudi Arabia and their embarkation for repatriation. While the Haj Committee should have the executive responsibility at the Indian end, the Consulate General should exercise it in Saudi Arabia. There should be close interaction and cooperation between the two. The Haj Committee may depute a member or two, with one or two supporting staff, by turn, to Saudi Arabia to cover the entire Haj period for monitoring. The difficulties faced by the pilgrims and advising the CG, when necessary. There is no reason why the Haj Committee should select buildings in Mecca and Medina through its Building Selection Teams, whose members practically do nothing but collect their DA. The hiring of accommodation, in accordance with the parameters the Haj Committee decides, should be left to the Consulate General of India. The Haj Committee would then reserve its right and duty to intervene, if anything goes wrong. The' present procedure entails a game of patronage, is wasteful and by dividing the responsibility, covers the possibility of underhand dealings.
HAJ AIR CHARTER
Transportation of pilgrims by air has become a racket of a scandalous proportion, primarily because of the fact that the Haj Committee has abdicated, or has been forced to abdicate, its statutory responsibility in the matter. Normally, the Haj Committee should first ascertain from the Saudi Arabian Airlines through the Consulate General of India, Jeddah, whether it wishes to exercise its right under the Saudi Arabian regulation, to participate in the Haj traffic, either fully one way or half either way. If the answer is in the negative, the Haj Committee should urge the Ministry of Civil Aviation, through the Ministry of External Affairs, to instruct/direct Air India to transport the Haj pilgrims to and from Jeddah on a reasonable charter fare. In case Air India pleads its inability to do so, the Haj Committee itself should float international tenders detailing its requirements calling for bids from the airlines or air companies owning suitable aircrafts. The Haj Committee should, on receipt of tender, seek the technical opinion of the DGCA on the airworthiness of the aircrafts offered and then negotiate financial terms only with the bidders whose aircrafts qualify. The essential point is that the return Haj Charter fare should not exceed 2/3 of the return IATA fare in force. The difference in the fare for various Indian airports of exit and entry can be equalised.
The air charter agreement should be negotiated with full information about the charter fare paid by the pilgrims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and Iran which are the non-Arab Asian countries sponsoring the largest number of pilgrims. The Charter Fare, I repeat, should not exceed 2/3 of the normal fare because of 100% capacity utilisation and low fuel consumption on vacant trips to India before the Haj and from India after the Haj. The charter fare should include charges for ground facilities at the' Indian and Saudi Arabian ends. Unfortunately, since 1997, the charter fare has almost equalled or even exceeded the IATA fare. This calls for a CBI inquiry to unravel the obvious corruption.
The period of stay in Saudi Arabia including the Haj week at present exceeds 40 days. With adequate number of operational and stand-by aircrafts, 8 batches can be tackled in one day. This would mean 18 days to cover 72,000 pilgrims. Hence the entire operation can be completed in 45 days and no batch has to stay in Saudi Arabia for more than 25 days.
QUESTION OF HAJ SUBSIDY
This brings us to the question of Haj Subsidy. Such subsidy is not permissible under the Shariat because Haj is obligatory only for those who can afford it. That is why neither Pakistan nor Bangladesh subsidise Haj travel. Following a modest beginning with about Rs. 4,000 in the early 70's due to sudden spurt in oil prices .and consequently in the IATA fare, the subsidy per pilgrim has risen now to Rs.18,000/ -. With the rise in the number of pilgrims during the same period from about 20,000 to 70,000, the' subsidy has gone up from 8 crores to a staggering 126 crores in 2000 AD. Haj subsidy was introduced, as a temporary arrangement to cushion the pilgrims against an unforeseen and sudden development. It was supposed to be progressively reduced and totally eliminated in two or three years. Howèver, it became a permanent feature of the Haj because .no Central Government had the political will to withdraw it, even to reduce it in step with the rise in the rupee value of the normal fare. Naturally the quantum of subsidy went up with the fall in the exchange value of the rupee and the rise in the IATA fare in terms of dollars. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affair’s has repeatedly asked for gradual elimination of the subsidy. What is more important from the national point of view is that the Haj subsidy serves as a welcome grist to the mills of Hindu chauvinist propaganda against the Muslim community which is depicted as the beneficiary of a policy of appeasement.
Earlier because of foreign exchange restrictions, the Central Government used to prescribe a Haj quota for each year i.e. the maximum number of pilgrims permitted to perform Haj. This also served as an indirect control on the quantum of subsidy. For the last few years, the quota has become meaningless because at the last minute, practically all wait-listed applicants are allowed, including some belonging to prohibited categories.
What is needed is a clear policy on Haj. No Quota, No Subsidy. The overall impact may be to- hring down marginally the number of applicants. That will strike down the collusion between the Haj Committee and the private Haj tour operators who charge the pilgrims commercial fares and then manage to get them included in the Haj Committee lists! Secondly, once the subsidy is eliminated, the Charter fare will go down. This will block the avenues of corruption, which today besmirches ail concerned.
GOVERNMENT DELEGATION: SHEER WASTE
The Government of India deputes a huge Delegation of around 30 members called Haj Goodwill Delegation to Saudi Arabia. This is a colossal waste and nothing more than an exercise in political patronage at the cost of the public exchequer. There is a formal call by the Leader of the Delegation on the Saudi Arabian Minister of Haj and .alongwith a few members he attends the mass Haj Dinner hosted by the Keeper of the Holy Places i.e. the King of Saudi Arabia. Apart from these, the Delegation as such serves no useful public purpose. On the other hand, the Delegation demands a lot of attention from the Consulate General of India, thus eating into the time and human energy which would have been utilised in looking after the pilgrims and supervising the staff. Every member of the Delegatión takes one or more dependants with him. The Members do not share the accommodation of the pilgrims but stay in luxury, not only in Mecca but even in Medina and Mina: The hotels have to provide free boarding and lodging to the dependants also. The hotel charges areaccordingly raised. Special transport has to be hired for them.' Of course, the Members also collect their DA, which is Rs.3000/- per day! So every member returns, after the Sarkari Haj, richer presumably spiritually but certainly materially! The entire operation costs something like Rs.10 lakhs per head! A total of Rs.3 crores, not counting the remuneration of the staff exclusively on duty with them.
This wasteful exercise, which is as stated above nothing more than political patronage, needs to be totally abandoned, as recommended by successive Ambassadors and Consuls General. Indeed, at my instance, as Joint Secretary (Haj) in 1978, both the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai and the then Foreign Minister A.B. Vajpayee had agreed to stop the practice. Unfortunately it has gathercd steam over the years and the size of the Delegation has jumped from 4 or 5 then to 30 plus now! Indeed, the exercise does not even create goodwill in India for the party in power because obviously, in this free for all, those who are not obliged, nurse a grievance.
The problem faced by the Indian pilgrims cannot be solved by the Government of India or by the Haj Comrittee,, without the understanding and cooperation of the Saudi Arabian authorities. But how can the problems be meaningfully discussed with any responsible person in
Saudi Arabia during the Haj? It would be useful to replace the Haj Goodwill Delegation by a post-Haj Delegation, to discuss Haj matters with the Saudi Arabian authorities, when they are more relaxed after the Haj and to exchange ideas on the improvement of the Haj management and the solution of the problems faced by the Indian pilgrims. Such regular exchanges will, over a period of time, definitely make for a positive impact. Such a Delegation should not consist of Ministers or Government officials only but inciude eminent members of the Muslim Indian community who are known in Saudi Arabia, apart from the Joint. Secretary (Haj), the Ambassador, the Consul General and the Chairman of the Haj Committee.
New Delhi,
1ª June, 2000
