By TCN News
Delhi: The management of Haj pilgrimage, including administration of the Haj Committee Act, 1959 (51 of 1959) and the rules made thereunder will now come under the purview of the Minority Affairs Ministry instead of Ministry of External Affairs, as per the new rules issued by the Cabinet Secretariat.
As per the decision, which received a nod from the President Pranab Mukherjee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has taken over the work of Haj Division of MEA with effect from 1st October, 2016.
“Hajj is one of the most complex organizational tasks undertaken by Government of India outside Indian borders. Indian pilgrims constitute the third largest national group performing the Hajj. Since the year 2013 about 136,000 pilgrims visit Saudi Arabia every year for performing Haj. Given its complexity and geographical spread, Haj Management requires meticulous planning and close coordination with various ministries and agencies. Thus it is a year long managerial exercise,” the press release said.
With the transfer of Haj-related works from MEA, the Ministry of Minority Affairs will be the nodal Ministry for all matters related to Haj pilgrimage.
It is important to point out that a number of Muslims, including Zafar Sareshwala had opposed the transfer of Hajj affairs to the MoMA from MEA. A few weeks ago, speaking in Saudi Arabia, Sareshwala, who was the the leader of India’s Haj goodwill delegation, had strongly opposed the government’s decision to transfer the management of Haj affairs from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MMA).
Responding to a question from Arab News at a press conference in Jeddah on September 15, Zafar Sareshwala had said: “Haj affairs should remain with the Ministry of External Affairs. The ministry has competent diplomats and capable officers, plus it has the benefit of institutional wisdom acquired over many decades of successfully managing Indian Haj affairs.”
Sareshwala said he did not see any reason for the decision. “Initially, even I was of the view that since Haj was primarily a minority affair, it should come under the Ministry of Minority Affairs. On hindsight and after having seen with my own eyes the excellent management of the annual pilgrimage by the Ministry of External Affairs, I feel the (transfer) decision is not wise. It ought to remain the way it is now,” he had said.
The MEA will continue to look after pilgrimages to places outside India and the Indian Pilgrim Ships Rules, 1933, and pilgrim parties from India to shrines in Pakistan and vice versa excluding the administration of the Haj Committee Act, the new rules said.