ISLAMABAD: The government and private hajj tour operators reached a settlement with as an additional quota of 3000 pilgrims was sanctioned for the operators.
Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar notes that the government quota of pilgrims will not be reduced.
After the agreement, the private hajj tour operators will be permitted to send 46,000 pilgrims instead of 43,000 during the current year.
Ishaq Dar, Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid and State Minister for religious affairs Pir Syed Amin-ul-Hasnat Shah attended the negotiations from government’s side vis-à-vis Chairman Hajj Operators Association Pakistan (HOAP) Wahid Iqbal Butt, President KP Masood Shinwari, President Quetta Jamal Khan, representative of FATA Gul Shah, Hameed Ullah from Sindh, Muhammad Yousaf from Punjab and Ahmed Khan from federal capital Islamabad.
The two sided had four rounds of talks. It was also decided that, the quota of 50 percent would be equally distributed among HOAP and the government by 2015.
