Haj Policy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday thanked the Saudi Arabia government for making changes in the Haj policy and said due to this change, over 4,000 Muslim women from India performed Haj without 'mehram' (male companion).

The Delhi High Court today sought the Centre's response on a plea seeking quashing of certain provisions in the new policy for Haj pilgrims that bar differently-abled persons from undertaking the annual Haj pilgrimage.

Terming the policy of allowing Muslim women to perform Haj only in the company of a male guardian as "injustice", Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said his government has removed the restriction following which hundreds of women have applied to travel alone for the pilgrimage.

A member of the Haj policy committee has defended a suggestion to allow women to go on pilgrimage alone without a mehram or someone to escort her, after some people criticised the new draft policy

Abolishing subsidy for Haj pilgrims and allowing women above 45 to travel in a group of at least four without a male member are some of the key highlights of a proposed Haj policy drafted by a committee appointed by the Centre, sources said.

The Centre is expected to come out with a new Haj Yatra policy this week aiming to ensure a smooth pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, government sources have said.

The government is working on a new Haj pilgrimage policy which is likely to be announced next year, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said while inaugurating a vaccination programme for Haj pilgrims in Hyderabad

After a gap of nearly a quarter-century, the air at the Mumbai port may once again be filled with chanting of 'Talbiyah', a prayer Muslims invoke before they set off for or during the annual Haj pilgrimage.

The Supreme Court wants the central government to phase out its policy of giving subsidies to Haj pilgrims.

Directing the government to progressively "eliminate" this policy within a period of 10 years, a bench of justices Altamas Kabir and Ranjana Prakash Desai said today, "We hold that this (subsidy) policy is best done away with." This interim order is also applicable to the Haj pilgrimage of 2012.

In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court today directed the Centre to eliminate Haj subsidy after 10 years. The court also directed the Centre to reduce the number of its representatives to be sent along with Haj delegations.

The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that it has decided to restrict Haj pilgrimage at government subsidy to Muslims only as a "once in a lifetime" affair as against the existing policy of "once in five years".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday thanked the Saudi Arabia government for making changes in the Haj policy and said due to this change, over 4,000 Muslim women from India performed Haj without 'mehram' (male companion).

The Delhi High Court today sought the Centre's response on a plea seeking quashing of certain provisions in the new policy for Haj pilgrims that bar differently-abled persons from undertaking the annual Haj pilgrimage.

Terming the policy of allowing Muslim women to perform Haj only in the company of a male guardian as "injustice", Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said his government has removed the restriction following which hundreds of women have applied to travel alone for the pilgrimage.

A member of the Haj policy committee has defended a suggestion to allow women to go on pilgrimage alone without a mehram or someone to escort her, after some people criticised the new draft policy

Abolishing subsidy for Haj pilgrims and allowing women above 45 to travel in a group of at least four without a male member are some of the key highlights of a proposed Haj policy drafted by a committee appointed by the Centre, sources said.

The Centre is expected to come out with a new Haj Yatra policy this week aiming to ensure a smooth pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, government sources have said.

The government is working on a new Haj pilgrimage policy which is likely to be announced next year, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said while inaugurating a vaccination programme for Haj pilgrims in Hyderabad

After a gap of nearly a quarter-century, the air at the Mumbai port may once again be filled with chanting of 'Talbiyah', a prayer Muslims invoke before they set off for or during the annual Haj pilgrimage.

The Supreme Court wants the central government to phase out its policy of giving subsidies to Haj pilgrims.

Directing the government to progressively "eliminate" this policy within a period of 10 years, a bench of justices Altamas Kabir and Ranjana Prakash Desai said today, "We hold that this (subsidy) policy is best done away with." This interim order is also applicable to the Haj pilgrimage of 2012.

In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court today directed the Centre to eliminate Haj subsidy after 10 years. The court also directed the Centre to reduce the number of its representatives to be sent along with Haj delegations.

The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that it has decided to restrict Haj pilgrimage at government subsidy to Muslims only as a "once in a lifetime" affair as against the existing policy of "once in five years".