Pranab Mukherjee says Centre will improve facilities for Haj pilgrims

New Delhi, Apr 2 : Close on the heels of complaints of inadequate arrangements and indifferent attitude of some state-run agencies for Haj pilgrimage, the Central Government on Wednesday assured that it would improve facilities being provided to Haj pilgrims.

"I can assure you that whatever shortcomings have been pointed out by you will be addressed. We will try to improve the situation," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at the annual Haj conference here.

Mukherjee admitted that on certain occasions "it is not possible to get the best available facilities" for the Haj pilgrims.

Before Mukherjee's speech, the Haj committee members had raised issues of indifferent attitude of Air India officials towards the pilgrims, unavailability of the holy 'zam zam' water and no parity in arrangements for Hajis.

The Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, said that Indore would be the new embarkation point for Haj pilgrims in Madhya Pradesh.

ANI