ISLAMABAD – The federal government announced the Hajj policy for the upcoming year under which the cost of Hajj has been slashed by one hundred thousand rupees.
In a detailed video, the spokesperson for ministry of religious affairs and interfaith harmony answered multiple queries and urged the intending pilgrims to keep visiting the website of the ministry and its social media accounts for updated information.
Installment for Hajj 2024
To a query regarding the payment of Hajj cost, the spokesperson replied that there is no concept of installments for this year’s Hajj and the payment has to be made in total, adding that the Sponsorship Scheme would continue this year as well.
Passport Validity
Those who have a valid passport valid till December 16th, 2024 are eligible to apply while if someone has applied for a passport, the token number can also be provided in the application which is also acceptable.
Ineligibility
‘All Muslim Pakistanis are eligible to apply for this year’s Hajj,’ stated the spokesperson but added that those who have performed Hajj in 2017 or onwards are not eligible to apply for Hajj.
However, the spokesperson confirmed that those who apply through Sponsorship Scheme or those who are going to the pilgrimage as Mehram (Guardian) of a woman can perform Hajj in 2024 even if they have performed Hajj in 2017 or subsequent years after that.
Long Hajj package
The Short and Long Hajj package is available to both regular applicants and Sponsorship Scheme applicants.
As far as the Long Hajj is concerned, it would encompass 38-42 days with 8 days stay in Medinah and those flying from 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 South Region while it is $ 3800 for North region.
There are 15 nominated banks for this accepting this year’s Hajj applications both for regular and Sponsorship scheme though zarai Taraqiati Bank would only accept applications for regular Hajj scheme.
For kids under age 2, the cost would be informed to the applicants in the next week, said the spokesperson.
Short Hajj package
For Short Hajj package, the cost for regular Hajj applicants is Rs 11,40,000 for South region while the cost is Rs 11,50,000 for North region; the Hajj would continue for 20-25 days under this scheme.
For Sponsorship Scheme, the cost for Short Hajj is $ 4015 USD for South region and $ 4050 for North region.
Vaccine requirement
The government would also provide training and vaccination to the intending pilgrims under the government Hajj scheme, announced the spokesperson and said three types of vaccines would be administered to the pilgrims at the Hajj camps.
‘The Saudi government has not relaxed requirement for Covid-19 vaccine and pilgrims should atleast have one dose of vaccine,’ stated the spokesperson and added that residence on shared basis would be provided under the Hajj scheme.
‘Full transport facility would also be provided to the pilgrims,’ stated the pilgrims and added that intercity bus facility would be providedd to the pilgrims.
‘Three days meal during Hajj and five litres bottle of Zamzam would be provided to the pilgrims upon return,’ stated the spokesperson.
It bears mentioning that the government would start accepting Hajj applications form November 27th this year and the process would continue till December 12th, 2023.
