KUALA LUMPUR - The Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) expects the amount of haj financial support to increase to almost RM500 million in 2024 if the cost of performing the pilgrimage is not reviewed.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar said the matter will have an impact on TH as it needs to provide reasonable profit distribution to its depositors.
"Every year, TH faces various challenges in hajj management including the increase in the cost of performing hajj pilgrimage which is beyond TH's control which affects its financial sustainability as well as the challenge of maintaining the best level of service.
"However, TH will continue the haj financial support to assist prospective pilgrims performing the hajj for the first time, to ease their financial burden,” he said during the Ministers’ Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said this in his reply to a question from Datuk Ahamad Saad@Yahaya (PN-Pokok Sena) who wanted to know the basis of the cost of performing haj for B40, M40 and T20.
Mohd Na'im added that even if they are eligible to receive haj financial assistance, prospective pilgrims in the B40 and M40 groups are given the opportunity to voluntarily pay more than the set rate, even though they may not be able to pay the full cost.
For the 1444H/2023 hajj season, the cost is RM30,850 for each muassasah pilgrim in Malaysia, an eight per cent increase compared with RM28,632 last year and from 2001 to 2022, as much as RM2.2 billion has been spent on haj financial assistance.
According to Mohd Na’im, TH always collaborates with several government agencies to cross-check information on prospective hajj pilgrims with the existing database related to their income.
He said the targeted haj payment rate takes into account the financial level of the prospective pilgrim individually and not the household income.
In his reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Mohd Isam Mohd Isa (BN-Tampin) regarding the proposal to establish a haj waqf fund to provide equal financial assistance to pilgrims, Mohd Na'im said the matter could be considered by evaluating its future effectiveness. - BERNAMA