The parliamentary standing committee on religious affairs ministry on Tuesday asked the ministry to be alert so that travel agencies could not send fake pilgrims to Saudi Arabia during the hajj this year.
The committee at a meeting reviewed the action taken against the errant travel agencies that had sent fake pilgrims last year and recommended that the ministry should be careful so that fake agencies could not run manpower business in the name of sending pilgrims, meeting sources said.
The ministry informed the committee that legal measures were being taken against the errant agencies and the licences of 13 agencies had been cancelled, Taka 20 lakh was realised as fine from 11 agencies each and criminal cases were lodged against eight others as 40 to 60 per cent of the pilgrims sent by them did not return last year, sources said.
'We recommended that the ministry should take precautionary measures to check manpower business by travel agencies in the name of sending pilgrims,' committee chairman Mujibur Rahman told New Age after the meeting.
He said that the committee had also recommended that the pilgrims should make use of the opportunity at the upazila levels instead of going to district headquarters to make the process easier for the pilgrims.
'We recommended that the ministry should decentralised the process so that the pilgrims can get application forms at the office of the upazila nirbahi officer and can deposit money with the upazila branches of Sonali Bank,' said the committee chairman.
Committee member Bazlul Haque Harun told New Age that the government planned to send 1.20 lakh pilgrims, including 15 thousand ballottees this year and the committee wanted that all of them should be genuine pilgrims.
'We also recommended that the government should increase the number of guides for the pilgrims this year and appoint one guide for every 45 pilgrims instead of 60,' he said.
Committee members state minister for religious affairs Shahjahan Mia, ABM Abul Kashem and Sadhon Chandra Mazumder were present at the meeting among others.
Source: New Age
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