Hajj operations: Ministry seems reluctant to rectify 'serious flaws'

Contrary to the government efforts of streamlining and improving Hajj arrangements, besides ensuring transparency in its conduct, the Ministry of Religious Affairs seems reluctant to rectify serious flaws identified in the Hajj-2009 report regarding pilgrimage arrangements supervised by Joint Secretary (Hajj) Aftab-ul-Islam Raja.
Soon after completion of the post-Hajj flight operations, a five-member committee, constituted by the government, visited Saudi Arabia to get feedback on arrangements made for Pakistani pilgrims, had subsequently submitted its report based on findings and recommendations to Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi.
Parliamentary Secretary for Religious Affairs Mehboobullah Jan, who led the committee, told APP that the committee was still waiting an appropriate action against the corrupt officers, who allegedly minted "billions of rupees by acquiring cheap residential buildings for Hujjaj."
Mehboobullah Jan said the members of the delegation had obtained feedback from Hujjaj in Mina and Madina about the facilities provided by Pakistan's Hajj Mission, but majority of the pilgrims were unhappy with the performance of the staff deputed to facilitate them.
"Comparisons were also drawn between the facilities provided to the delegation members and those to the ordinary pilgrims paying similar rent to the Hajj Mission. The delegation found a number of irregularities which clearly indicated corruption in procurement of accommodation, worth billions of rupees," the Parliamentary Secretary said. The parliamentary secretary in his report had underlined the need for appointing a high-level commission to probe as to why the seasonal staff failed to fulfil their responsibilities.
"Besides other things, the commission would find out who were responsible for hiring poor standard of accommodation for Hujjaj in Makkah," he added. He said the seasonal staff was unable to deliver, and Pakistani Hujjaj faced numerous problems during the Hajj days.
He recommended that in future all the appointments of seasonal staff be made purely on merit, while they should also be computer literate. He said that it had also been recommended that the number of seasonal staff might be reduced and savings from the sector be utilised for providing other kinds of facilities for Hujjaj.
Mehboobullah Jan said the matter would be taken up in the next meeting of National Standing Committee on Religious Affairs in which strict action would be sought against corrupt officers of the Ministry. When this scribe contacted Joint Secretary (Hajj) Aftab-ul-Islam Raja, he invited to visit office any time, saying that such lengthy talk could not be held on phone. Despite repeated visits to the office of the Joint Secretary from time to time, he failed to upkeep his commitment to provide details about the report and any action taken by the Ministry accordingly.