LAHORE, Sept 14: The All Pakistan Pilgrims Group Organisers Association has sought the intervention of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry for safeguarding the sanctity of the Haj policy approved by the federal cabinet by getting annulled decisions taken by the Federal Religious Affairs Ministry in violation of the policy.

A delegation of the association’s action committee, led by Muhammad Aminullah, called on FPCCI president Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed and informed him that the religious affairs ministry had allocated quotas to companies which did not fulfill the criteria and did not qualify for organising Haj groups.

He said the ministry had registered 169 new operators out of whom around 150 did not meet the criteria. Most of them were not running active tour business either and did not have the infrastructure required of a private limited company. A majority of them were only selling their quota in the local market.

The genuine operators organising Haj groups had been deprived of quotas as a result of registration of new operators. He said the FPCCI should intervene and get the registration of operators failing to qualify the prescribed standard annulled.