Hajj 2016: Govt yet to divide quota among private operators

Official says legal tussle over quota allotment holds up distribution

ISLAMABAD: Despite announcing this year’s Hajj policy last month, the religious affairs minister still failed to distribute the quota for private tour operators, it emerged on Saturday.

The government, while announcing the Hajj policy for 2016, had slashed the quota for private tour operators by 10%. The Supreme Court, however, rejected that bid after being moved by the private operators. The religious affairs ministry has filed a review petition against the top court order and is currently pending.



Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a religious affairs ministry official told The Express Tribune that the ministry still hasn’t distributed the quota for private operators. This may create problems for pilgrims who are to perform Hajj this year through private operators.

According to the 2016 Hajj policy, 143,368 Pakistanis will perform Hajj. Of these, 86,021 pilgrims will perform Hajj under the government scheme while 57,347 attend the annual pilgrimage in Makkah through private operators.

The quota division breaks down to 60% for the government and 40% for private operators. The ministry was supposed divide it on a 50-50 basis.



According to the ministry, over 280,000 Hajj applications have been received so far. However, those pilgrims who will perform Hajj through private operators are still waiting for the government to allot the operators a quota before they start filing applications. The official who spoke to The Express Tribune believes the delay is a result of the legal war between the ministry and private tour operators

When contacted, Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Muhammad Yousaf said his ministry has yet to distribute quota to private operators because many companies were blacklisted in the past and needed to be scrutinised again. He confirmed that the ministry has filed a review petition in SC and said a decision will be taken after the appeal is decided.

The minister added that he has called a meeting of the Hajj advisory committee on May 23 to make a final decision on the Hajj quota distribution and to discuss next year’s policy.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2016.