Religious Ministry Mulls Over Open Sky Policy For Airlifting Govt Scheme Hujjaj

Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony was exploring the option of having open sky policy to airlift Government Scheme Hujjaj to Saudi Arabia through open airline tendering, the Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony was told here Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Oct, 2018 ) :Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony was exploring the option of having open sky policy to airlift Government Scheme Hujjaj to Saudi Arabia through open airline tendering, the Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony was told here Tuesday.

Briefing the Committee, Secretary Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Muhammad Mushtaq Ahmed said currently, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has allowed only four airlines including Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Shaheen Airlines, Air Blue and Saudi Arabian Airlines to airlift the Hujjaj going to perform Hajj in Saudi Arabia. The situation could improve through open airline tendering.

He said that due to restriction of CAA, the Ministry can't go for open airline tendering right now.

Regarding Shaheen Airlines issue, he said the Ministry has written a letter to CAA to black list Shaheen Airlines. The Ministry has also asked the concerned authorities to put the Names of management of Shaheen Airline on Exit Control List (ECL). He said Shaheen Air was given the load of 30,526 hujjaj from different places of departure (PODs) for Hajj 2018 and as per agreement, the first installment of 35 percent advance amounting to Rs 960,6912,00 was released to SAI out of a total of Rs 2,744,832,000. Shaheen Airline failed to provide the final flight schedule in given time period, as a result, the load of SAI was distributed amongst other airlines due to time constraint.

Responding to a question, he said no other airlines except SAI was ready to airlift 5,000 hujjaj from Quetta airport. The Ministry suffered an additional loss of Rs 184,230,000. Shaheen Air International completely failed to act as per agreement. Shaheen Airlines did not have aircraft to land at Quetta Airport, he told.

The Committee directed the Ministry to ensure distribution of Zakat share of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on priority basis.

Chaired by Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, the meeting was told by Secretary Religious Affairs Muhammad Mushtaq Ahmed that the summery of constituting Fata Zakat Council was with the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and currently, the share of Zakat of Fata was not being utilized due to absence of Fata Zakat Council.

The Committee asked the Ministry to furnish names, details of Khuddam-ul-Hujjaj sent Saudi Arabia in last three years.

The Chairman directed the Ministry to share draft Hajj Policy 2019 with the Standing Committees of National Assembly and Senate for further improvements and incorporating Parliamentarian's suggestions in the final Hajj Policy. He said Minister for Religious Affairs has asked the Committee to have copies of Hajj Policy 2018 and suggest improvements in it.