ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry has sent a team to the holy city of Madinah to monitor Hajj arrangements and ensure the provision of facilities to Pakistani pilgrims who have traveled to Saudi Arabia on the government’s Hajj scheme, reported state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency on Saturday.

The kingdom reinstated Pakistan’s pre-pandemic Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims and scrapped the upper age limit of 65 earlier this year in January. About 80,000 Pakistanis are expected to perform their pilgrimage under the government scheme while the rest will be facilitated by private tour operators.

The first batch of Pakistani pilgrims arrived in Madinah on May 22. According to the religious affairs ministry, these pilgrims will depart for Makkah after about eight days of their arrival.

“A high-level team responsible for monitoring the Hajj arrangements has arrived in Madinah to oversee and ensure the provision of accommodation facilities, transportation, food, healthcare, and other logistical arrangements for the government scheme pilgrims,” the APP said.

“Led by joint secretary Arshad Farid Khan from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, [the team] has already started diligently identifying areas for improvement, implementing necessary measures, and ensuring the enhancement of service quality provided to the pilgrims.”

Khan said the ministry staff tasked with overseeing the Hajj arrangements had already resolved many issues raised by the pilgrims, adding their luggage-related problems had been taken care of while officials were also conducting food inspection and monitoring the accommodation arrangements.

“Immediate action was taken against catering companies that displayed unsatisfactory performance, with some receiving warnings and others being blacklisted for future engagements,” he told APP.

Hajj is an obligatory religious ritual for adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of carrying it out. It involves visiting the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah at least once in a lifetime and takes place in Dhu Al-Hijjah, the last month of the lunar Islamic calendar.