The decision is in line with a 2012 Supreme Court order, asking the government to do away with the subsidy for the pilgrimage. Representation pic

There will be no subsidy for Haj from this year, minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi announced yesterday and said the move was part of the government's efforts to "empower minorities" without appeasement. A record number of 1.75 lakh Muslims will undertake the pilgrimage this year from India, Naqvi told reporters here. "There will be no subsidy on Haj now," he said. The government had spent over Rs 250 crore last year on subsidising the annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Saudi Arabia, he said.