70,000 intending pilgrims airlifted to Saudi Arabia: last flight on December 2

Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi has said that last Haj flight will take off for Jeddah on December 2, as about 70,000 intending pilgrims have already reached Saudi Arabia. The intending pilgrims, landing at Riyadh, were satisfied with the arrangements made by government.
While those who landed at Jeddah had some minor difficulties like accommodation at long, Kazmi said while addressing a press conference here on Monday. He said that out of 164,746 intending pilgrims, 70,000 had reached Saudi Arabia. "The last flight of pre-Haj operation would take off on December 2, while the return flights would start on December 12," he added.
About the delay in Haj operation, he said that due to a case, pending in the Supreme Court to determine quota of private Haj tour operator, was main cause. Some pilgrims affiliated with the private tour operators had not yet received visas due to delay in the issuance of bar codes by the Saudi government, he maintained.
The minister dispelled the impression of delay on the part of government. "It may be due to the non-issuance of bar-code on passports by Saudi ministry, containing the data of pilgrims, accommodation and date of departure and return," he added.
He said to avoid inconvenience, the ministry would not add any other family member after the prescribed schedule, be it in name of Mehram or youngster to support aged parents. He said that out of 30,000 quotas for private tour operators, only 109 were surrendered, which had been accommodated under government scheme. So, he said, there was no question of leftover quota of private tour operators as being reported in the media.
He asked the media to help trace the people either from within the ministry or outsiders allegedly involved in illegal sale of forms for Haj, despite the fact that the ministry had not issued such forms even to parliamentarians.
He welcomed check of the parliamentary committee on Haj operation for transparency, saying that this would help remove the ills from the Haj operation and make it more transparent. "I would have no objection if a special parliamentary committee is formed or the matter is referred to the Standing committee of Parliament on religious affairs," he said.
Religious Affairs Secretary Naguibullah Malik said complaints about non-verification of professional background of private tour operators was due to lack of any regulatory mechanism, which, he said, would be established to remove such concerns.
He said not only the ministry, but also the law-enforcement agencies were working to detect illegal activities and money-making in the name of this "holy operation," adding that it was an offence and action would be taken under law against those found involved in such crime.