Steps on Supreme Court Haj subsidy order after getting judgment: S M Krishna

NEW DELHI: The government will decide steps to be taken by it on the Supreme Court order to end Haj subsidy after receiving the judgment of the apex court on the issue, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said today.

In its verdict on May 8, the Supreme Court had directed the government to phase out Haj subsidy within a period of 10 years, saying that this amount can be more profitably used for social and educational development of the Muslim community.

"They have given us an interim order. We are awaiting the final order of the Supreme Court. Once we get that, then we will decide that what will be our next step," Krishna said when asked if the Government was planning to file an appeal against the apex court order.

He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of an All Indian Haj Committee function.

A bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai had quoted Quran to justify doing away with the subsidy, which was around Rs 685 crores in 2011, noting that many Muslims would not be very "comfortable" to know that their Haj is funded to a large extent by the government.

A number of prominent Muslim leaders had welcomed the court's order, saying that the subsidy was not exactly benefitting the community and the funds given in subsidy should be allocated for improving the educational and living standards.

Addressing the gathering, the External Affairs Minister said that he has been informed by the Haj Committee chairperson Mohsina Kidwai that the pilgrimage last year had passed off smoothly and was well organised.

"I would like to alert all the officers dealing with Haj 2012 not to let their guard down and remain alert and ahead of the plans and programmes for Haj 2012. Haj is such a complex and tedious operation that we can ill-afford complacency at any point in time," he said.