ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Caretaker Prime Minister Justice (retd) Nasir-ul-Mulk on Wednesday directed the ministry of religious affairs to extend maximum facilities to the aged pilgrims and to those with special needs.
While presiding over a Cabinet meeting in which he was briefed about the working of the Ministry of Religious Affairs with a special focus on Hajj Operations 2018, the prime minister expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made so far by the ministry for ensuring smooth Hajj operations.
The prime minister said that a comprehensive feedback on all aspects of Hajj arrangements should be fully utilized to further improve the affordability, arrangements and facilitate of Hujjaj in the future.
During the meeting, the secretary religious affairs apprised the prime minister about various functions of the ministry including formulation and operationalization of Hajj policy.
Briefing the meeting about the Hajj arrangements, the secretary said that 374,857 Hajj applications in 2018 under the government hajj scheme reflected the confidence of general public on the government managed hajj operations.
The prime minister was informed that 10,000 seats were reserved this year for the applicants over 82 years of age along with one physically fit attendant.
Similarly, 12,235 applicants who remained unsuccessful continuously for the last three or more years have been declared successful to perform Hajj.
Justice (retd) Nasir-ul-Mulk was also briefed about the pre departure trainings of Hujjaj, transportation and accommodation and other facilities that have been arranged to facilitate the pilgrims.
