The Caretaker Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony has told the media that a mobile application has been launched online to facilitate the Pakistani pilgrims during their tour to the Land of Hijaz. According to him, this cellphone application will guide the pilgrims from the Hajj flight to their stay in Saudi Arabia and all other relevant details will be available on the app including videos for the training of pilgrims. All the pilgrims would be provided with a free single-colored QR code suitcase so that they could easily identify their belongings. Meanwhile, a free mobile phone SIM from a Saudi company will also be given to each Pilgrim to facilitate his travel, communication, and location during his stay in Saudi Arabia.
Hajj is one of the most important elements of Islam, which not only involves a huge amount of wealth and physical health but also requires visits to the holy land, i.e. Makkah and Madina. Every Muslim man and woman owe an undying quest to perform Hajj and tour the sacred places in Saudi Arabia at least once in their life. Unfortunately, the Hajj has become the most difficult and costly religious ritual due to inflated Hajj fees, unbearable airfares, and boarding and lodging expenses that have made this important religious segment out of the reach of a common Pakistani at this point.
Although, every past government made efforts to reduce Hajj expenses in a bid to provide some financial relief and enable the masses to undertake this important religious activity. The incumbent caretaker government also took significant steps in this regard that involved lowering the cost of Hajj by almost Rs. 0.1 million, the introduction of the Hajj App, and the issuance of free SIM cards, etc. which will surely assist pilgrims during their stay in Saudi Arabia. However, a need for improvement and room to do more always exists. The incumbent rulers must put in efforts to further shortcut the Hajj expenses, so the maximum number of people can perform Hajj this year, which will not only benefit the individual but contribute to the national economy as well.
