KARACHI – The caretaker regime announced the draw results for the upcoming Hajj, revealing that a total of 63,805 applicants would be able to perform Hajj under the government Hajj scheme.
The balloting was digitally held in an event on Thursday in Karachi attended by the caretaker minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Aneeq Ahmed.
As per the official details, 69,438 applicants applied for the upcoming Hajj and after the balloting, 5,633 applicants who were unsuccessful in the draw have been placed on the waiting list.
Those on the waiting list can be selected on merit in case any of the successful applicant withdraws the application.
As far as the Sponsorship Scheme is concerned, the authorities have confirmed a slow response as only 3500 applications have been received against the total 25,000 seats; the deadline for the Sponsorship Scheme has already been extended to December 31st.
The total number of seats allocated to Pakistan for the upcoming Hajj is around 180,000 but these include the seats allocated to the private Hajj operators also.
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.
