Sign In
Learn bits
Polity & Governance
Mahesh

14/01/23 09:22 AM IST

Centre to end discretionary Haj quota

In News
  • The Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Smriti Irani, recently announced that the Indian government has done away with the discretionary Haj quota for pilgrims.
About Haj Pilgrimage
  • The Haj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims.
  • It is considered to be a mandatory religious duty for all adult Muslims physically and financially capable of doing so.
  • The rites of pilgrimage are performed over five to six days, in Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar
Abolition of Discretionary Quota
  • The “Government discretionary quota” is further divided in two, 200 seats are with the Haj Committee itself and 300 are with people holding important offices at the Centre.
  • These include, 100 with the President, 75 with the Prime Minister, 75 with the Vice President, 50 with the Minister of Minority Affairs.
  • As per the old policy, these seats could be allocated to individuals who applied for the pilgrimage through the normal means but were unsuccessful in getting a slot for the pilgrimage.
  • According to the 2018-22 policy document, 70 per cent of India’s total quota goes to the HCoI and 30 per cent goes to private operators.
Source- Indian Express

More Related Current Affairs View All

24 Sep

Leveraging transit-oriented development to build productive cities

'Indian cities are on the brink of a transportation revolution, with a projected expenditure of ?3 trillion (between 2022–2027) set to be spent on approved metro rail project

Read More

24 Sep

Section 107 of BNSS

'The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, introduced Section 107, which deals with properties which are “proceeds of crime”.' Until recently, this term w

Read More

24 Sep

Supreme Court strengthened child pornography law

'Tightening the law on child pornography, the Supreme Court recently said that even viewing, possessing, and not reporting such content is punishable under the Protection of Childr

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps