The Senate witnessed chaotic scenes on Saturday when Senators from both sides of the upper House demanded of the government to restore 10 percent Haj quota reserved for parliamentarians. Speaking on the occasion, religious affairs minister, Hamid Saeed Kazmi informed the House that MPs Haj quota was withdrawn on cabinet direction, as majority of the cabinet members were of the view that it creates problems for them.
"We have not abolished the Haj quota, it was cabinet's decision. The ministry has recommended to the cabinet to further increase the Haj quota for the parliamentarians," he added. Replying to the recommendation to abolish private tour operators' quota, he said that the ministry has revised the criteria for allocation of quota to the operators in view of alleged favouritism by the ruling party.
"The quota is now being given after due scrutiny of the operators' whereabouts and on depositing cash guarantee," he added. The Minister for local government Abdur Razaq Thahim on a personal explanation said that the religious affairs ministry moved the summary for withdrawal of parliamentarians and other Haj quotas including journalist, labour, PIA employees' quotas in the cabinet. He said it is not the matter of parliamentarians' quota only.
Speaking on the occasion Maulana Ghafoor Haideri, who is also chief whip of treasury, said that the House is unanimous on restoration of parliamentarians quota and the cabinet should consider it.
Islamuddin Sheikh, Zahid Khan, Haji Mohammad Adeel, Ilyas Bilour, Ishaq Dar, Seemin Siddiquie and Jamal Leghari strongly criticised the Haj quota for private tour operators and urged the government to abolish it immediately. They alleged that the tour operators take bribe from the intending pilgrims on their Haj quota, which brings bad name to the country.
The minister said that according to the Saudi government rules, it is compulsory to allocate Haj quota for private tour operators. "We are bound to follow the Saudi rules in this regard," he added. Acting Chairman Senate, Jan Mohammad Jamali asked the minister to discuss the matter with the Prime Minister and convey the feelings of the House to him. Jamali also assured the House that he himself would take up the issue with the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, the state minister for foreign Malik Amad Khan informed the Senate that Pakistan has formally requested the Saudi Arabia to stop the criminal procedure against the family allegedly involved in drug smuggling.
Taking the House into confidence over the issue, he said besides this, the Prime Minister has also talked to the Saudi envoy in Pakistan, while the Foreign Office is in touch with Saudi authorities and Pakistani mission in Jeddah is providing legal assistance to the family. Later Acting Chairman Senate, Jan Mohammad Jamali prorogued the Senate session for an indefinite period.
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