MARGAO
Goa Haj Committee Chairman Sheikh Jina on Tuesday said that a delegation of the All India Haj Committee will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a plea to exempt Haj pilgrimage from the purview of GST.
Addressing the media, Jina said that while the cost of Haj pilgrimage has gone up following the withdrawal of subsidy as per a Supreme Court ruling, he, however, pointed out that withdrawal of the GST or reduction of the tax by some percentage will go a long way in mitigating the hardships faced by the Muslim
brethren undertaking Haj pilgrimage.
In this connection, he said the All India Haj Committee, of which he is the Vice-chairman, will call on Prime Minister along with Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi with a request to reduce the GST,” he added.
Jina has urged Goan Muslims to apply for the 2019 Haj pilgrimage before the October 31 deadline in order to facilitate the Haj committee to chalk out the plan since Air India has maintained that Goa will retain its embarkation point only if 600 pilgrims are willing to head for Haj from
the State.
To a question, Jina said that the pilgrims will be asked to pay the Haj pilgrimage amount in three installments, with the first installment pegged at Rs 81,000.
