MPs to call upon individuals involved in allocating Hajj quota to private operators

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel has decided to call upon all the relevant individuals involved in the process of allocating Hajj quota to private operators including an ex-federal minister.

The Sub-Committee of Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony which met here on Friday under the chairmanship of Senator Aon Abbas Buppi also directed the Ministry of Religious Affairs to provide all the correspondence that took place in the ministry since August 2024.

The meeting discussed the matters pertaining to reduction of the private Hajj quota and examining the procedure followed in awarding the tender of Mashaer Services to M/s Al-Rajhi.

The meeting was attended by Senator Bushra Anjum Butt, Danesh Kumar and secretary for Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Senator Buppi, while convening the meeting, finalise the TORs for the sub-committee focuses on the reasons that restricts 67,000 Hujjaj from performing Hajj.

The sub-committee will investigate the factors involved in blocking the IDs and how 50 million Riyals belonging to private Hajj operators have been transferred to DG Hajj Accounts.

Senator Buppi inquired that creating cluster of Munazim, merging them from 900 Munazim to 41, and how the ministry has taken such task which originally fell under the umbrella of HOPE.

The sub-committee also directed the ministry to provide a copy of minutes of the committee constituted to award the tender of Mashaer Services to Al-Rajhi. Senator Buppi also directed to provide copy of letter written by ex-federal minister, disagreeing with the process, along with the dissenting notes of other four members of the committee.

The sub-committee also finalised the timeline for the disposal of the matter, stating that the sub-committee will commence the process once the Hajj process is completed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025