Government, private schemes: Hajj quota cut to be equally distributed, says minister

Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf Monday said that the 20 percent cut in Hajj quota will be equally distributed among the pilgrims of government and private schemes. Talking to a 12-member delegation of Hajj Organisers Association of Pakistan (HOAP), he said objective of the government and HOAP is the same to provide facilities to the pilgrims and both should join hands to facilitate Hujjaj.
The delegation intimated the minister about the problems and issues being confronted by them. He sought co-operation and co-ordination from HOAP to provide maximum facilities to the intending pilgrims. It is pertinent to mention here that as many as 1,44,000 Pakistanis would perform Hajj this year due to 20 percent cut in Pakistan Hajj quota by Saudi government. And the government has already completed the booking of 89,605 intending government scheme pilgrims. The same number of intending pilgrims is being booked by the Hajj Group Organisers (HGOs).
The minister said the Hajj quota cut would be equally distributed among the pilgrims of government and private scheme. The minister directed the Hajj Group Organisers (HGOs) to submit the booking details by Tuesday so that the exact number of booked pilgrims could be ascertained.