National Assembly body passes Publication of Holy Quran Bill 2013

The National Assembly's Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony on Thursday passed the Publication of Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and recording Errors) Bill 2013 moved by Major Tahir Iqbal (Retd). The committee met here under the Chairmanship of Hafiz Abdul Kareem MNA to discuss the Private Member's Bill further to amend the Publication of Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and recording Errors Bill, 2013 moved by Tahir Iqbal.
After thorough discussion on different aspects of the bill, the committee unanimously passed it. The committee deferred the discussion on bill moved by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Marvi Memon, who has suggested harsher punishments for those who contract and solemnise children marriages through amendments in the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929. The Committee expressed satisfaction over the Hajj arrangements and thanked the Prime Minister for reducing Hajj fare of Pakistan International Airline for Hujjaj. The committee directed the Ministry of Religious Affairs to arrange the residences near the road and provide food of good quality to the Hujjaj. The Committee offered "Fatiha" for those killed in a terrorist attack in Karachi.
The committee was informed that this year a total 264,000 applications were received under the government scheme for performing Hajj. A total 71,684 person will perform Hajj under government scheme.
The committee was informed that overall 143,368 would perform Hajj under Government scheme and through private operators. The cost of Haj has been reduced by Rs 17,000 as compared to last year. The total expenditure of going to Haj from Karachi, Quetta and Sukkur will be Rs 246,231 while 255,071 will be charged from passengers of other cities.
People who have performed Hajj in the past 5 years are not allowed to go for Hajj this year, while only those private operators which were registered last year are provided Hajj quota. Similarly, nobody is allowed to perform Haj on government's expense.
The meeting was attended by Malik Abdul Ghaffar Dogar, Syed Imran Ahmad Shah, Sahibzada Faiz-ul-Hassan, Bhawan Das, Asiya Naz Tanoli, Shahida Akhtar Ali, Syed Amir Ali Shah Jamote, Shagufta Jumani, Ali Muhammad Khan, Lal Chand Malhi, Sahibzada Muhammad Yaqub, Bismillah Khan MNAs and Federal Minister and State Minister for Ministry of Religious Affairs & Interfaith Harmony as well as senior officials of the Ministry.