Vice President Ma'ruf: Hajj Fee Still Waits For The Right Subsidy

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin walked along with the Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah during the inauguration of the Community Training Center (BLK) in 2022/ANTARA

JAKARTA - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin said the certainty of the costs of the Hajj that must be borne by Indonesian pilgrims is still waiting for the right amount of subsidies. "Now it's being discussed how much the right subsidy is, so that people can receive it, but also the hajj funds are not eroded, subsidies can be continued sustainably," said Vice President Ma'ruf Amin in Central Lombok, Antara, Friday, February 10. The Ministry of Religion proposes that the average cost of the pilgrimage or BPIH for 1444 Hijri/2023 is IDR 69,193,733 per person, higher than the cost of the pilgrimage trip in 2022 which is set at IDR 39,886,009 per person. "I think everyone knows that last year's salary subsidy was too big 59 percent," said Ma'ruf. If the amount of the subsidy continues to be maintained, according to Ma'ruf, then it has the potential to extract the capital of the Hajj funds being developed. "Well, in order not to (drench), then the subsidy must be reduced, that's what the conversation is going on," said Ma'ruf. Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas also explained that the proposed average cost of Hajj travel covers 70 percent of the proposed BPIH average of IDR 98,893,909 per person. The remaining 30 percent or Rp29,700,175 is taken from the value of the benefits of managing hajj funds. According to the Minister of Religion, the formulation of the BPIH component has just been implemented to balance the burden on pilgrims with the sustainability of the value of the benefits of managing hajj funds in the future. However, the proposed scheme will be discussed again with Commission VIII of the DPR RI to find a middle ground. One of them is by reducing the time for the pilgrimage. Chairman of the Working Committee (Panja) The cost of organizing the Hajj (BPIH) Commission VIII DPR RI Marwan Dasopang also assessed that the implementation of the Hajj pilgrimage with a duration of 35 days could be carried out in 2023. In his calculations, Panja said that the pilgrimage period was actually sufficient to be carried out for 30 days assuming nine days in Medina, six days in Tasyrik's days, and 15 days in Mecca. Through the implementation of the Hajj for 30 days, he said, there will be a budget savings of up to IDR 1.2 trillion.