The Ministry of Religious Affairs has initiated to formulate the policy for the next Haj ceremony. It met with the concerned departments to facilitate intending pilgrims during the Haj.
"We have started meetings with the officials of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), National Database Registration (NADRA), banks and other concerned departments to discuss arrangements for the pilgrims," Joint Secretary (Haj), Khawas Khan Niazi told APP here on Thursday.
He said time lines for application forms, balloting, flights schedule and other arrangements will be fixed during these meetings.
The Joint Secretary informed that the ways and means would be discussed to improve arrangements in the light of problems, which had been faced by the pilgrims during the last Haj.
He said besides the flights schedule, other problems being faced by the pilgrims during travelling would be discussed with PIA officials.
"Special attention will be given to availability of sufficient aircraft and strict implementation of flight timings," he added.
About meeting with bank authorities, he said banks received application forms and also responsible to formulate groups, adding, "The bank officials will be asked to ensure identity of each pilgrim at the beginning."
He said the CCA would be asked to make excellent arrangements at the airport for departure and arrival of intending pilgrims. Responding to a query, he said foolproof arrangements would be made to ensure that genuine pilgrims travel on Haj passport.
"The option of machines readable passport was also under consideration to stop performance of Haj on fake travelling documents," he added.