ISLAMABAD – The government Hajj scheme for the upcoming pilgrimage has failed to attract a sizeable number of Muslims from Pakistan, it emerged on Tuesday.
As per state-run media, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony received a total of 59,328 Hajj applications under the government scheme.
As far as the total number of seats is concerned under the government scheme, the quota for Pakistanis participating in the annual Islamic pilgrimage is 89,605; it bears mentioning that the total number of seats is around 180,000 as private tour operators are also receiving applications from the citizens.
The deadline for submitting applications for the Government Hajj Scheme has already been extended to December 22 from December 12th and the ministry has also sought the support of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to aware the masses of the scheme.
To attract the Pakistanis, the Ministry of Religious Affairs has also written to the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis to inform the Pakistanis living abroad about the Hajj scheme and the benefits associated with it.
Moreover, the government has also lifted the ban on those who had performed Hajj in the last 5 years and those who have a valid passport valid till December 16th, 2024 are eligible to apply.
The Short and Long Hajj package is available to both regular applicants and Sponsorship Scheme applicants for the upcoming Hajj.
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 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 South region and $ 4050 for North region.
