ISLAMABAD – The National Assembly Standing Committee on Religious Affairs approved the new Haj Policy of 2011 on Thursday with directions to the Religious Affairs Ministry to take measures to ensure proper implementation of the policy to provide as much relief to the pilgrims as possible.
The committee, which met here at ministry offices with Maulana Qasim Jan in the chair, also told the ministry to rectify the mistakes that had previously caused embarrassment for pilgrims, especially last year.
The committee expressed its concerns about the “unnecessary” increase in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) fares, which was an extra burden on pilgrims, and told the PIA management to reconsider the fares in order to compete with other international airlines.
The committee welcomed the increase in the quota of Pakistani pilgrims and appreciated the efforts of the ministry in this regard. It also appreciated the decision of the ministry to entertain the pilgrims on a first come, first serve basis instead of balloting.
Religious Affairs Secretary Shaukat Hayat Durrani briefly told the committee that all stakeholders, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, had been consulted before formulating the new policy.
Religious Affairs Minister Syed Khurshid Shah and committee members Engineer Mohammad Tariq Khattak, Pirzada Syed Imran Ahmad Shah and Nighat Parveen also attended the meeting.
