RIYADH – The authorities in Saudi Arabia have formally started the Hajj operations as the kingdom signs the Hajj agreements with different countries.
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Tawfiq Al Rabiah, officially announced the start of operational activities for this year’s Hajj season.
As part of the Hajj operation, coordination of various government departments and private entities would be done to ensure smooth conduction of the religious event and provision of best facilities to the pilgrims.
The announcement came as the kingdom recently concluded the third Hajj and Umrah Services Conference for which Al Rabiah thanked King Salman for his support.
The government of Saudi Arabia is currently in the final phase of reaching Hajj agreements with different countries; the kingdom will be welcoming the largest number of pilgrims for the upcoming Hajj from Indonesia.
As far as Pakistan is concerned, the number of seats allocated to the country was around 180,000 though the government has decided to return 21,000 seats.
The government had initially set December 12th as the deadline which was extended till December 22nd for the regular Hajj scheme. To attract the applicants, the government had also permitted those who had performed Hajj in the last 5 years to apply for the upcoming Hajj.
The authorities have introduced the Short Hajj package for the pilgrims while the Sponsorship Scheme is also valid for this year as well.
As far as the Long Hajj is concerned, it would encompass 38-42 days with 8 days stay in Medinah and those flying from the South region i.e. Karachi, and Sukkhur would have to pay Rs 10,65,000 while those from other cities i.e. Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan, Sialkot, Faisalabad would pay Rs 10,75,000.
For Sponsorship scheme applicants, the cost is $3765 for the South Region while it is $ 3800 for the North Region for those opting for the Long Hajj package.
For the Short Hajj package, the cost for regular Hajj applicants is Rs 11,40,000 for the South region while the cost is Rs 11,50,000 for the North region; the Hajj would continue for 20-25 days under this scheme.
For the Sponsorship Scheme, the cost for Short Hajj is $ 4015 USD for the South region and $ 4050 for North region.
