The decision of Centre to abolish Haj subsidy from this year onwards following the Supreme Court direction is a step in right direction. Infact subsidy should have been withdrawn in 2012 itself when SC ordered the government to do away with it in a phased manner in ten years time. The subsidy has been of no use for the Muslim community. Infact subsidy bogey is often used by rightwing Hindutva group to target Muslim community with the allegation of minority appeasement. It has become a burden on the Muslim community and with its abolition the community has been freed from a massive burden. BJP government atleast deserve appreciation for showing enough courage to implement SC order to do away with subsidy.
Now Muslim community will expect BJP to exhibit similar courage to implement the second part of SC order which is to use abolished Haj subsidy money for the upliftment of the community. Despite having massive population the Muslim community is still way behind in terms of human development index. Poor education is the biggest concern for the community. Government should focus on educational empowerment of girls and women from the minority community. All the political parties should support the move of government. However the central government on their part should make sincere effort to implement second part of the SC order.