ISLAMABAD, May 7: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Ijazul Haq informed the National Assembly on Monday that the Haj operation would be fully privatised if a scheme to involve more private operators in the process worked successfully.

The minister said during the question hour that he could not give at this stage any timeframe for the privatisation of the entire operation.

The government introduced a scheme in 2005 allowing the pilgrimage through private operators, and gradually phased out the operation of ticketing, boarding and lodging of pilgrims after the Saudi government asked the countries to fully privatise their Haj operation.

In the first phase, the government allocated about one third of pilgrims to Haj group organisers in 2005 and raised the quota to 60,000 for Haj in 2006 and to 77,000 for Haj December 2006, about 50 per cent of total pilgrims, he said.

He said that if the scheme continued successfully the government would consider a proposal for privatising the entire operation but no timeframe could be given at this stage.

Replying to a question, the minister said that FIA authorities were investigating into the case of 717 Afghan nationals who performed Haj in December 2006 on Pakistani passports. The ministry would take necessary action against people found involved in the malpractice after receiving a final report, he said, adding that according to information received from FIA, 14 Haj group organisers were found involved in the case.

He, however, rejected the criticism that all Haj operators were involved in malpractices and said that the ministry had refunded the guarantees of 400 of the 544 Haj operators and told those with a clear record to continue their operation.

Saudi Arabia, he said, had also asked for the streamlining of Umra operation on the pattern of Haj. Over 100,000 people who went to perform Umra did not come back some two years ago, but the number came down to 52,000 last year and further dropped to 42,000 this year, he said.

The minister said that the ministry was in the process of framing a new Umra policy in close consultation with the ministries of interior and tourism.

Minister for Culture Dr Ghazi Gulab Jamal told the house that no antiques had been stolen from any museum under the administrative control of the ministry over the past two years.

He said that a burglar alarm system and a close-circuit camera had been installed at the Quaid-i-Azam’s birthplace museum in Karachi and at the Islamabad museum.

He said that the ministry had hired services of police and private security agencies to provide security at the National Museum of Pakistan in Karachi, Archaeological Museum in Harappa and museums in Taxila and Islamabad.