Centre to end discretionary Haj quota: What is it, and how does it work?

The minister added that a new, exhaustive Haj policy has been formulated and will be announced soon. Notably, the previous Haj policy was set for the duration between 2018 and 2022, and has now expired.

The Indian Express takes a closer look at what this discretionary quota was and how the Haj pilgrimage works.

The Haj pilgrimage: a massive logistical operation

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.

However, for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it poses a massive logistical challenge. Housing, feeding and facilitating safe pilgrimages for millions of pilgrims who descend upon Mecca from across the world during a brief period of time is difficult, to say the least. Thus, Saudi Arabia allots country-wise quotas which determine the total number of pilgrims who can make a journey from a particular country.

These quotas are broadly allotted on the basis of the number of Muslims a country houses. However, the quotas are also major diplomatic issues. Every year, countries lobby Saudi Arabia for more slots. After a Covid-19 related lull, the pilgrimage will resume at its full scale in 2023.

India’s distribution of Haj slots for pilgrims

On January 9, the Indian consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia tweeted that India signed the Haj 2023 bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia. According to the agreement, a total of 1,75,025 Indian Haj pilgrims will be able to perform Haj, reportedly the highest in history.

Haj 2023 – Countdown begins.

India signed Haj 2023 bilateral agreement today.
We thank the Kingdom for Haj quota of 1,75,025 to India and conveyed all support for the success of Haj 2023.@MOMAIndia @MEAIndia @smritiirani @IndianDiplomacy @haj_committee pic.twitter.com/d5hBxDNBQ9

— India in Jeddah (@CGIJeddah) January 9, 2023

While the specifics of India’s latest Haj policy are yet to be seen, the way the system has traditionally worked is that the quota allotted to India (by Saudi Arabia) is then further distributed by the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Haj Committee of India (HCoI) to various stakeholders.

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. While private operators are free to charge as they wish and take anyone who pays, the majority of pilgrims traditionally go through the HCoI which runs a subsidised tour on the part of the government (though the subsidy is being phased out).

Out of the total number of slots with the HCoI, 500 are held under the “Government discretionary quota” whereas the rest are distributed to different states on the basis of their Muslim population, according to the 2018-22 policy. A draw of lots is conducted in each state to determine who makes the journey in case the number of applicants exceed the number of slots available.

What are the hajj discretionary quotas?

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.

This quota has now been abolished with these seats being added back to the general pool.

Ongoing debate about the ‘VIP quota’

This is not the first time this issue has come up. In 2011, the Supreme Court called the VIP quota for Haj pilgrims a “bad religious practice”. In 2012, the apex court reduced the Government quota from over 5000 to 500, split into 300 for the Government and 200 for the HCoI.

In the same judgement, the apex court had also directed the government to phase out the Haj subsidy within a period of 10 years, saying the sum can instead be used for the social and educational development of the Muslim community.