High Court Says 'no' to State funds for pilgrims

Should governments subsidise personal pilgrimages? 'No' says the AP High Court. A practice that started with the Haj, has been extended to Jerusalem and now to Amarnath. Where will it end?

CJ: Vyasamoorthy

Fri, Jul 24, 2009 09:25:11 IST

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Andhra Pradesh Latest News :

THE ANDHRA Pradesh High Court has ruled that the government cannot fund individuals' religious pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Mecca or Amravati. This ruling has far-reaching implications. For a number of years, the government of Andhra Pradesh has been paying Rs12000/- each towards airfare subsidy for about 6500 Haj pilgrims, while also spending another Rs50 lakhs looking after their boarding and lodging in Hyderabad prior to their departure to the pilgrimage. Last year, subsidies to pilgrims to Jerusalem, stood at Rs2 crores. Fuelled by this trend, Hindus insisted on financial subsidies for the Amarnath Yatra and the government is framing a scheme to accommodate this as well.

A number of people have pointed out that the use of government money for religious trips is unjustified. Now, going by the judgement pronounced yesterday in connection with three PILs, the AP High Court too agrees with this view. The ruling affects all religious pilgrimages. The court agrees that State funds may be spent in building temples or mosques but cannot be spent in giving money for individual pilgrimages. Naturally, some sections are unhappy with this decision. With just two months for the Haj pilgrimage to start, the State government is already planning to appeal to the Supreme Court.

It must be considered that there are a large number of unattended issues that demand the allocation of funds. For example, do you know how much the AP State government has allocated for the welfare of senior citizens (it is has a separate government department) - a mere Rs5 lakhs out of a total government budget of Rs100,000 crores. Pilgrimages may be sponsored by respective religious groups, mutts, temples, churches and such organisations. There is no need for the government to spend scare resources on what is a private affair.

The Haj pilgrimage subsidy is from a Central government scheme from which Rs400 crores is allotted every year. Going by stand of the Centre, one can probably expect stiff opposition from the Central government. Let us wait and see the outcome.

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