ISLAMABAD, May 26: The Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs proposed to the religious affairs ministry on Thursday to consider reducing the obligatory stay in Saudi Arabia for Haj pilgrims to 30 days from 40 in order to decrease the expenses.

At a meeting presided over by Senator Saleh Shah, several members of the committee said such schemes had been adopted by a number of countries.

They said the rituals involved a lot of hardship and the pilgrims would like to return after a one-month stay.

Talking to this reporter, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of the JUI-F said the pilgrims could easily complete the compulsory 'arkan' of Haj in 30 days.

He said private Haj operators were already successfully offering plans of 15 to 20 days because many people who left their businesses found it difficult to stay abroad for a long period.

The committee discussed in detail the hiring of accommodation for pilgrims under the government scheme and decided that a parliamentary team comprising three MNAs and two senators would soon visit Saudi Arabia to examine the process and ensure transparency.

The ministry's officials said residences had been obtained for 51,000 of 90,000 prospective pilgrims and the process would be completed by July.

The committee recommended that the issue of a difference of Rs5,000 to 10,000 in the cost of a PIA ticket for pilgrims travelling under government scheme and through private group operators should be resolved in a spirit of understanding between the 700 operators and the airline.

It was informed that the PIA and Saudi Airlines had associated one airline each to facilitate the pilgrims.

The government has decided to engage 540 doctors and 1,080 paramedics to cater to the needs of the pilgrims. Private tour operators will employ 4,200 khudamul Hujjaj and the government will recruit 900.