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  • Nov, 15th, 24

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More than 1,28,500 Pak pilgrims reach Saudi Arabia

August 20, 2017

MAKKAH, Aug 20 (INP) More than 128,500 Pakistani pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia under the government and private schemes. The number of Hujjaj who have reached under the government scheme is 84, 799 and the private scheme 43, 732. The flight operation will continue till 26th of August to airlift the remaining pilgrims to the holy land for performance of Hajj, Pak Haj Mission said here Sunday. The Ministry of religious affairs has made elaborate arrangements to address complaints of Hujjaj on different matters including those relating to baggage lost and the food. The Director General Haj Sajid Yousfani said that currently a staff of two thousand and one hundred has been engaged in different cells for the service of pilgrims. Giving details about the medical mission he said so far about forty nine thousand Hujjaj have benefitted from our OPD service while the tally of total admissions in the main hospital stands at thirty four. As the number of Hujjaj are higher this year, therefore, a shuttle service has been provided in each sector where Pakistani pilgrims are residing so that any patient could be shifted to the central hospital in case of any emergency. Nine dispensaries have also been set up in each sector. Each dispensary has a lady doctor in order to provide timely medical care to the female Hujjaj. He said serious patients are shifted to Saudi hospitals where a Pakistani translator is always available for their assistance. Responding to a question, the director hajj stated that our services will also expand with the increase in the number of Hujjaj in the coming days. He said the medical mission which currently has a staff of four hundred will cross the mark of five hundred and forty when all the Pakistan pilgrims i.e. over one hundred and seven thousand will reach the holy city. Similarly the figure of Khuddamul Hujjaj will be increased. Similarly more buildings, dispensaries and food caterers will become operational and the number of buses will be increased. The DG Hajj further stated that as soon as the figure of pilgrims will go down after the Hajj, the number of staff and buses will also scale down. When asked about the complaints of pilgrims, Sajid Yousfani said a complaint management system has been put in place to register and redress the complaints of the pilgrims. A twenty four hour call center has been set up whose toll number is available with the pilgrims. He said a complaint register has also been placed in each building or the pilgrims can lodge their complaint on the website of the ministry of religious affairs. He said the complaints are referred by the computer system to the relevant cell for immediate redressal. The DG Hajj said that he also pays surprised visits to check the quality of services being provided to the pilgrims. In addition, monitoring teams have been constituted both in Makkah and Madina to oversee the facilities being provided to pilgrims both under the government and the private scheme. INP/AH