Hajj 2017: ‘Govt to facilitate pilgrims’

The minister says the government has taken serious notice of complaints lodged by the pilgrims in the past.

SIALKOT: State Minister for religious Affairs Sahibzada Pir Ameenul Hassanat Shah has said the government was making efforts to provide maximum facilities to the pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, besides bringing down the Hajj expenditures to a great extant.

The minister expressed these views after inaugurating a newly established hotel on Railway Road, Sialkot on Wednesday. He announced that draw for Hajj would be held on May 28. As many as 107,000 people from Pakistan will perform Hajj under official quota while 70,000 pilgrims will perform Hajj through private tour and Hajj operators, he said.

He said the government had brought several direly needed changes in Hajj travelling for pilgrims from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia especially between Jeddah, Madina and Makkah by taking serious notice of complaints lodged by the pilgrims in the past.

The minster said now the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia would provide pick and drop service to the intending pilgrims from their residences in Saudi Arabia during the Hajj.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2017.