By Quaid Najmi

Mumbai, May 16 (IANS): Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar on Tuesday urged Union Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Z. Irani to remove the discrepancies in the charges payable at the embarkation points for Haj pilgrims at different locations in Maharashtra.

In a letter to Irani, Pawar said that this year, of the 22 airports in India, Mumbai, Aurangabad, and Nagpur have been selected as EPs for the Haj 2023 pilgrimage season.

However, there are a lot of discrepancies in the EP charges payable at Aurangabad which is around Rs 88,000 higher than what is payable in Mumbai.

"It puts a heavy burden on the Haj pilgrims, especially from the underdeveloped regions of Marathwada and other rural areas of Maharashtra," said Pawar.

He added that the people of entire Marathwada have raised their voice against these indiscriminate charges and requested that it should be made at par with Mumbai EP charges.

The issue was first highlighted by state Congress Working President M. A. Naseem Khan who not only slammed the Central government's move to reduce this year's quotas for Haj pilgrimage but also slapped higher charges to the pilgrims at various EPs, as reported by IANS on May 10.

On May 15, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar wrote to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde pointing out the hefty EP charges being levied on Haj 2023 pilgrims from Nagpur which is over Rs 63,000 higher than Mumbai.

Ajit Pawar demanded that "either the pilgrims should be given a discount on these high charges, or they should be re-allotted Mumbai as their EP".

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Khan has said that earlier the pilgrim quota given to the Haj Committee of India was over 200,000, but has now been slashed to around 150,000, and the rest given to the private tour operators who are charging exorbitant amounts ranging from Rs 500,000-Rs 10,00,000 per pilgrim.

The Congress leader also questioned the HCI's decision to charge different and unjustified amounts for the pilgrimage from different EPs in the country - and Maharashtra - Mumbai at Rs 3,04,843, Nagpur at Rs 3,67,044, and Aurangabad at Rs 3,92,738.

Khan claimed that the pilgrims are also being denied other benefits like the 'qurbani' and 'adahi' charges that were given pre-2019, but when he raised the matter with the HCI Members, they informed lack of authority as all their powers were withdrawn by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

"Due to this, there is anger in the pilgrims and the Muslim community in Maharashtra and all over India. I request you to personally look into the matter and give suitable directions to the concerned ministry," Khan appealed to the PM.

Sharad Pawar also sent along representations of state NCP Youth President Mehbub Shaikh and Beed MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar on the same issue, and urged Irani the EP charges be slashed.

The annual Haj-2023 pilgrimage will start from June 26 and the first of the flights to Saudi Arabia from different EPs all over India will take off on May 21.