{"id":75391,"date":"2025-05-24T10:50:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T05:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=75391"},"modified":"2025-05-24T10:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T05:59:08","slug":"operators-negligence-resulted-in-waste-of-private-hajj-quota-sardar-yousaf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/pakistan\/operators-negligence-resulted-in-waste-of-private-hajj-quota-sardar-yousaf\/","title":{"rendered":"Operators’ negligence resulted in waste of private hajj quota: Sardar Yousaf"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs<\/a> and Interfaith Harmony, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf on Friday addressed the recent controversy over Pakistan\u2019s private Hajj quota<\/a>, attributing the issue to private tour operators\u2019 failure to meet deadlines and comply with Saudi government regulations.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a press conference at PTV headquarters, the minister clarified the developments surrounding this year\u2019s Hajj arrangements. He noted that the Hajj policy had been approved in November, months before he took charge of the ministry in March.<\/p>\n

According to Sardar Yousaf, he personally visited Saudi Arabia twice to oversee the arrangements. He said Pakistan\u2019s total Hajj quota was equally divided between the government and private schemes, with the entire government quota now utilized.<\/p>\n

However, the private sector failed to remit funds on time and did not adhere to instructions issued by Saudi authorities, resulting in a significant portion of the private Hajj quota going unused. \u201cTour operators showed negligence in meeting deadlines, and as per Saudi directives, only companies with a minimum of 2,000 quota allocations were eligible,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Hajj Organizers Association of Pakistan (HOAP) had formed 41 clusters and was required to deposit 25 percent of the payment by February 14. \u201cVery little amount was deposited by that date,\u201d the minister noted. Even after a 48-hour extension, only funds for 10,000 pilgrims were secured.<\/p>\n

Following diplomatic efforts led by Pakistan\u2019s Foreign Minister, an additional quota of 10,000 pilgrims was allocated not only to Pakistan but also to other Muslim countries. \u201cThis year, 25,698 pilgrims will perform Hajj under the private scheme,\u201d he confirmed.<\/p>\n

Responding to claims from some tour operators that they were unaware of deadlines, the minister maintained that all communications were made in a timely manner. \u201cWe provided the relevant lists to the qualifying companies well in advance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted a high-level inquiry committee to investigate the matter. \u201cThose found responsible will be held accountable once the inquiry report is submitted,\u201d the minister assured.<\/p>\n

Minister Yousaf said he had personally checked on pilgrims under the government scheme during his visits to Saudi Arabia and found the arrangements \u2013 transportation, food, and accommodation \u2013 satisfactory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government scheme follows a single-tier system. Any pilgrim facing difficulties should contact our staff on the ground,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

When asked by a journalist about complaints regarding food and missing support staff, the minister responded that all complaints were being addressed promptly. \u201cCompanies that failed to provide proper meals will be blacklisted,\u201d he said. He also confirmed that a one-time transport issue had already been resolved.<\/p>\n

Secretary for Religious Affairs Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman<\/h2>\n

Secretary for Religious Affairs Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman, who also spoke during the press conference, said a probe was underway to determine how a blacklisted Saudi company managed to secure a contract this year.<\/p>\n

He added that pilgrims were allowed to opt out of pre-arranged meals and receive 34 Saudi Riyals per day instead. \u201cSo far, no pilgrim has availed this option,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Responding to media queries, Dr. Rehman acknowledged that some tour operators transferred funds into incorrect accounts, causing delays in booking accommodations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DG Hajj account received only 50 million riyals, whereas 700 million were required. Though 50 million were initially misrouted, they were returned between December and January,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite the setback, Dr. Rehman noted that plots could have been booked with the available funds if managed properly.<\/p>\n

Concluding the press conference, Minister Yousaf stated unequivocally: \u201cThe Saudi government is not providing any more Hajj quota. Those private scheme pilgrims who missed out this year, will unfortunately now have to remain so.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf on Friday addressed the recent controversy over Pakistan\u2019s private Hajj quota, attributing the issue to private tour operators\u2019 failure to meet deadlines and comply with Saudi government regulations. Speaking at a press conference at PTV headquarters, the minister clarified the developments surrounding this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":37244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[21026,28980],"class_list":["post-75391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan","tag-hajj-2025","tag-private-hajj-quota"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75391"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75392,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75391\/revisions\/75392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}