The hard earned money of the ordinary tax payer like you and me as well as the Hajj pilgrims themselves IS NOT PAYING FOR THE WELFARE OF HAJJ PILGRIMS but helping keep alive Government of India owned Air India.
Check these facts:
1) Government of India(GoI) 'gives' each Govt quota Hajj pilgrim (Haji) a 'subsidy' of Rs 30,000/- from ordinary tax payers' money.
2) Firstly the GoI takes an advance of Rs.70,000/- from each of the 1,25,000 Hajj pilgrims (Haji) as return air fare by Air India four months in advance of the Hajj departure. Let's indulge in some basic arithmetic:
For a business of Rs. 875 crores (USD 145 Million @Rs.60 per USD) from a sovereign Government and one of the largest economies on earth, which private airlines carrier will not give a credit advance? So who's benefiting from the advance amount of Rs. 875 crores of the hard earned money collected from the Hajees?
3) Here comes the big scam. GoI forces each pilgrim to buy an Air India return air ticket for Rs.70,000/-, which costs just Rs. 30,000/- with private carriers. In effect each pilgrim is himself paying back a whopping Rs. 40,000 to the coffers of the Indian Government! If a tender is called for the tens of thousands of pilgrims tickets', considering economy of mass it is said that private carriers (national or international) can even give the same return ticket for 20,000/-. So the amount paid back by each pilgrim to the Indian Government may well be 50,000/-! Here's some middle school calculation with the first saving of Rs. 40,000/- for each ticket and the amount of money scammed from India's Hajj pilgrims.
4) In effect Hajj Subsidy = Lifeline for Air India (owned by Govt of India) plus the ironic label of Muslim pilgrims performing Hajj on doles!
5) Hajj is once in a life time event for most Govt. quota Hajj pilgrims. They are mostly at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder and at the fag end of their blessed lives who invest their lifetime savings to perform it. Apart from the great rip off in the air fare, the Govt quota pilgrims (mostly poor and old) are treated like sheep and cattle. The Indian Embassy officials and Govt of India Hajj Ministry officials give third rate accommodation which is mostly far away from the main Hajj events (is the money collected for this hospitality siphoned off? Your guess is as good as mine). And once the Hajj is completed, the pilgrims are packed like cattle and left to fend for themselves without food and water for hours at the Jeddah airport to board the planes back to India.
This is the great Hajj Subsidy myth, fleecing, loot and scam! Will the new Government remove Hajj subsidy? I doubt, as it will take off one crutch from the limping Air India not to mention the votes it gains by highlighting appeasement of 'minorities' by the other political parties. This 'subsidy' is one of the many election hopes of India's political parties some gain votes by promoting it and some by opposing it.
My old parents were among those who went through the ordeal of being a Government quota Hajj pilgrim in 2000 incidentally during the Atal Bihari Vajapayee Government. They remember waiting for hours at the departure terminal at Jeddah without food and water to board the plane back to Bangalore. There was no Hajj or Indian Government official to help them. Along with a few fellow pilgrims my father wrote a letter to Shri. Vajapayee from Mecca about the ordeals and the great rip off by the Government officials. He went on to write a few stories which were published in prominent Urdu Dailies apart from the Indian Express. Unfortunately nothing came out of his letters to the government.
Check these facts:
1) Government of India(GoI) 'gives' each Govt quota Hajj pilgrim (Haji) a 'subsidy' of Rs 30,000/- from ordinary tax payers' money.
2) Firstly the GoI takes an advance of Rs.70,000/- from each of the 1,25,000 Hajj pilgrims (Haji) as return air fare by Air India four months in advance of the Hajj departure. Let's indulge in some basic arithmetic:
Scam
1
(The teeny tiny scam)
|
No:
of Hajis performing Hajj on Government of India quota
|
1,25,000
(One lakh twenty five thousand)
|
|
Return
flight fare collected from each Indian Haji by GoI (4 months in advance)
|
Rs. 70,000
(Rupees seventy thousand)
|
||
Total
amount collected by GoI from 1 lakh 25 thousand Hajis
|
Rs.
8,75,00,00,000
(Rupees eight hundred seventy
five crores) |
||
Monthly
interest which a deposit of Rs. 875 crores can collect at 10% PA.
|
Rs.
8,75,00,000
(Rupees Eight crore seventy five lakhs)
|
||
Interest
amount for 4 months for for Rs. 875 crores at 10% PA. Total money earned by GoI
or Air India from interest of Hajj money
|
Rs.
3,50,00,000
(Rupees three crore fifty lakhs)
|
For a business of Rs. 875 crores (USD 145 Million @Rs.60 per USD) from a sovereign Government and one of the largest economies on earth, which private airlines carrier will not give a credit advance? So who's benefiting from the advance amount of Rs. 875 crores of the hard earned money collected from the Hajees?
3) Here comes the big scam. GoI forces each pilgrim to buy an Air India return air ticket for Rs.70,000/-, which costs just Rs. 30,000/- with private carriers. In effect each pilgrim is himself paying back a whopping Rs. 40,000 to the coffers of the Indian Government! If a tender is called for the tens of thousands of pilgrims tickets', considering economy of mass it is said that private carriers (national or international) can even give the same return ticket for 20,000/-. So the amount paid back by each pilgrim to the Indian Government may well be 50,000/-! Here's some middle school calculation with the first saving of Rs. 40,000/- for each ticket and the amount of money scammed from India's Hajj pilgrims.
Scam
2
(The big, fat Indian scam)
|
No:
of Hajis annually using Government of India quota
|
1,25,000
(One lakh twenty five thousand)
|
Return
flight fare collected each Indian Haji by GoI annually (4 months in advance)
|
Rs.
70,000/-
(Rupees seventy thousand)
|
|
Return
flight fare for 1 adult in private/ non-Air India carriers
|
Rs.
30,000/-
(Rupees Thirty Thousand)
|
|
Each
Hajj pilgrim’s money overpaid by GoI to Air India each year (Rs.70,000/-
minus Rs. 30,000/-)
|
Rs.
45,000/-
(Rupees Forty Five Thousand Only)
|
|
Total
amount collected annually by GoI from 1 lakh 25 thousand Hajis
|
Rs.
8,75,00,00,000
(Rupees Eight hundred seventy five crores)
|
|
Total
of Hajj pilgrims' money overpaid by GoI to Air India each year (875 crores
minus 375 crores)
|
Rs.
5,00,00,00,000 (Rupees five hundred crores)
|
4) In effect Hajj Subsidy = Lifeline for Air India (owned by Govt of India) plus the ironic label of Muslim pilgrims performing Hajj on doles!
5) Hajj is once in a life time event for most Govt. quota Hajj pilgrims. They are mostly at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder and at the fag end of their blessed lives who invest their lifetime savings to perform it. Apart from the great rip off in the air fare, the Govt quota pilgrims (mostly poor and old) are treated like sheep and cattle. The Indian Embassy officials and Govt of India Hajj Ministry officials give third rate accommodation which is mostly far away from the main Hajj events (is the money collected for this hospitality siphoned off? Your guess is as good as mine). And once the Hajj is completed, the pilgrims are packed like cattle and left to fend for themselves without food and water for hours at the Jeddah airport to board the planes back to India.
This is the great Hajj Subsidy myth, fleecing, loot and scam! Will the new Government remove Hajj subsidy? I doubt, as it will take off one crutch from the limping Air India not to mention the votes it gains by highlighting appeasement of 'minorities' by the other political parties. This 'subsidy' is one of the many election hopes of India's political parties some gain votes by promoting it and some by opposing it.
My old parents were among those who went through the ordeal of being a Government quota Hajj pilgrim in 2000 incidentally during the Atal Bihari Vajapayee Government. They remember waiting for hours at the departure terminal at Jeddah without food and water to board the plane back to Bangalore. There was no Hajj or Indian Government official to help them. Along with a few fellow pilgrims my father wrote a letter to Shri. Vajapayee from Mecca about the ordeals and the great rip off by the Government officials. He went on to write a few stories which were published in prominent Urdu Dailies apart from the Indian Express. Unfortunately nothing came out of his letters to the government.
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