ISLAMABAD: Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousaf said Monday that the cabinet had constituted a special committee consisting of eight ministers for supervision, troubleshooting and implementation of Hajj Policy, 2018.
Briefing the meeting of National Assembly Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, he assured that all out efforts would be made to facilitate the Hajj pilgrims in the current year.
The meeting was chaired by member of National Assembly (MNA) Shagufta Jumani. The committee discussed in detail the issue of the conversion of 500 service visas into Mujamla visas by the religious ministry.
Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony secretary clarified that Mujamla visa was a courtesy visa offered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and was directly managed by the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad. The ministry had no relevance/concern with the issuance of Mujamla visa, he added.
The committee considered the comprehensive report/implementation with reference to observations and directions of the cabinet and its members.
The committee was briefed about the visit of a high-level delegation from Pakistan to pay homage to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) on behalf of the people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan at the shrine of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) from December 8-14, 2017.
Hajj Organisers Association of Pakistan (HOAP) also briefed the committee about the concerns of private tour operators. The committee recommended that the previous percentage of Hajj quota which was 60/40 per cent might be restored for Hajj season in the ongoing year.
MNAs Malik Abdul Ghaffar Dogar, Syed Imran Ahmed Shah, Sahibzada Faizul Hussan, Bismillah Khan, Muhammad Kamal Malik, Kiran Imran Dar, Shaida Akhtar Ali, Sahibzada Muhammad Yaqub, Lal Chand Malhi and Agha Muhammad attended the meeting.
