Facilities provided to pilgrims under watch

Ministry establishes monitoring system; Ruet panel meets today in Karachi to sight Zilhaj’s crescent

ISLAMABAD: For the very first time, the Ministry of Religious Affairs has established a monitoring system in Saudi Arabia to oversee facilities being provided to the intending pilgrims both under the government and private Hajj schemes.

This move has come after pilgrims reported facing immense problems during Hajj particularly with regard to accommodation, food and transportation.

Talking to The Express Tribune, an official privy to this development said both the private tour Hajj operators as well as government try to hide their poor performances or shortcomings.



“Therefore, this monitoring system will help to evaluate their overall performance  and will note down issues being faced by the intending pilgrims in terms of providing quality food on time, proper accommodation and transportation both in Madina and Makkah,” he added.

He said during the last few years, pilgrims, especially the ones who went under government Hajj scheme, have faced numerous issues in Saudi Arabia

“This year, however, the ministry has ensured that all-out efforts are made in order to improve Hajj arrangements and provide best accommodation, transportation and quality food to pilgrims,” he added.



The official said the monitoring system would also evaluate to what extent the ministry remained successful in this regard. He said measures are taken to keep the monitoring system transparent and effective around the clock.

Sharing details of the system, the official said around 395 monitoring teams checked performance of private Hajj tour operators while they visited 87 places where intending pilgrims under the government Hajj scheme are staying.

“They made a few surprise visits and after finding issues they tried to address them. So far 1,33,868 intending pilgrims have reached Saudi Arabia out of which 45,163 are under government and 88,705 under private scheme,” he added.