There will be no subsidy for Hajj pilgrims from this year in India and the funds saved will be used for providing education to minorities.

Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi came up with the reamrk on Tuesday, reports PTI.

“There will be no subsidy on Hajj now,” he told reporters, adding that the government had spent over Rs 250 crore last year on subsidising the annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Saudi Arabia.

He said a record number of 1.75 lakh Muslims will undertake the pilgrimage this year from India despite the subsidy withdrawal.

The decision is in line with a 2012 Supreme Court order, asking the government to do away with the subsidy, a long standing demand of the BJP.

The BJP had cited the subsidy as an example of “Muslim appeasement” by parties such as the Congress.

“It is part of the Modi government’s efforts to empower minorities with dignity and without appeasement,” Naqvi said.

The funds would be utilised for providing education to minorities, he added.

Asked if the subsidy withdrawal will make the cost of the pilgrimage too high for many Muslims, Naqvi said the government was making efforts to bring it down.

The Saudi Arabian government has agreed to allow Indians to go on Haj by the sea route and officials of the two countries will work out the modalities, he said.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said the government’s decision on revoking Haj subsidy has no meaning as there was no such concession and Muslims were being cheated in its name.

Welcoming the Centre’s decision, the Vishva Hindu Parishad said the money saved from it should be utilised for the education of poor Hindu girls.