The federal cabinet approved new Hajj policy on Wednesday, making some significant changes in the old system. Religious Affairs Minister Khurshid Shah, later told a news conference that it has been decided to do away with the balloting system. Applications from intending Hajis will now be received by scheduled banks on first-come-first-served basis. And that the banks have been directed to set up special counters at all of their branches between April 15 and May 10.
Shah also disclosed that the Saudi government has increased the quota of Pakistani pilgrims for this year by as much as 19,609. And on its part, the government has decided to impose a restriction on persons who have performed pilgrimage during the last five years. Such people would be eligible this time only as 'Mehram', Group Leader, or for Hajj-e-Badal. This particular decision can go a long way in providing a fair chance to maximum number of people to fulfil an important religious obligation.
As for the first-come-first-served decision, it also deserves to be welcomed but for a practical problem. It is about authorising all branches of scheduled banks to receive applications. The idea, of course, is to allow people easy accessibility. But there is no centralised system in place for data sharing while the receipt of applications is to start immediately. Opening of multiple windows of operations in the absence of an integrated information network is almost certain to create chaos and confusion. Shah quoted the Prime Minister as emphasising the need for transparency at the cabinet meeting, which indeed is vital, but there is nothing on the ground to ensure achievement of that objective. More specifically, it is hard to figure out how those interested would be able to find out that the principle of first-come-firs-served has actually been translated into action. Hopefully, this is not another scandal waiting to happen.
It is hoped that the government has learnt lessons from the previous year's scam. Notably, while defending his position in the aftermath of a massive Hajj-related corruption scandal the then religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi had argued, citing figures, that corruption is endemic to Hajj operations. And that it should go to his credit that under him the scale of the problem was smaller than the year before. This, of course, is not a good enough argument. The policy has to be of zero tolerance for corruption. This time it must be ensured that there is no room for government officials and contract operators to hoodwink the Hajis. Towards that end, they must be provided beforehand all the necessary information such as the food expenses, place of stay, transportation, etc so that they know if they are getting what they expected.