Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has called on the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah to increase the quota of women officers for hajj pilgrimage services.
“Especially for worship guides. For worship guides, there should be more women guides than men guide,” the minister noted in his statement received on Monday.
According to Qoumas, the number of women hajj pilgrims is higher than that of men. Thus, the quota for women worship guides should be adjusted in accordance with the needs.
For the pilgrimage, the Ministry of Religious Affairs will also prepare special officers to serve elderly pilgrims.
This year, some 62 thousand elderly prospective hajj pilgrims need to be served for the pilgrimage.
Those officers will be trained to serve elderly pilgrims. In addition, the ministry has prepared hajj dormitories to serve as disabled-friendly zones.
“The principle is giving attention because apart from older adults, women also need to be given more attention than men,” he affirmed.
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The minister emphasized that officers tasked with assisting pilgrims will have competencies in terms of hajj pilgrimage and services for pilgrims.
To this end, he highlighted the need to ensure that the officers are ready to serve pilgrims through a selection process.
Earlier, Minister Qoumas and Hajj and Umrah Minister of Saudi Arabia Tawfiq Al-Rabiah inked an agreement on Indonesia’s 2023 hajj quota in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on January 8, 2023.
In a press release issued on January 8, 2023, Qoumas noted that the hajj quota of 203,320 pilgrims has been allotted for regular hajj pilgrims and 17,680 for special hajj pilgrims. Thus, the total quota for hajj pilgrims this year is 221 thousand.
“Meanwhile, for officers, this year, we received a quota of 4,200 (people),” he added.
He stated that during the meeting with Minister Al-Rabiah, it was agreed that no age limit would be set for hajj pilgrims this year.
Tempo.co
