240 private Haj organisers registered: Ejazul Haq

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Muhammad Ejazul Haq said on Sunday that as many as 240 private Haj organisers had been registered with the ministry, who would be responsible for sending 50,000 pilgrims under private Haj schemes. The federal minister was addressing a press conference at the Haji Camp. He said that a monitoring cell had also been set up in the ministry, which would be responsible to monitor the private Haj organisers. He said that the applications under the private Haj scheme would be received from July 5 to July 25. The minister said that every Haj organiser was bound to provide a copy of the Haj package, including details of all facilities/services and the bank account to the applicant and the ministry. The minister said that Haj seats had been allocated to the group organisers on the basis of their past experience, financial capability and credibility. Since this was the beginning of involving private sector, a lenient view had been taken and hence the condition of 6 years experience was relaxed. He said that in order to encourage newcomers, 100 seats would be allocated to each, while 200 and above seats would be allocated to experienced organisers. The minister disclosed that every Haj group organiser would provide a performance bond and a refundable bank guarantee of Rs 1.5 million or a bank draft at the rate of Rs 2,000 per Haj seat, allocated to him by the ministry. staff report

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