ISLAMABAD – The federal government has announced the balloting date for the applicants who have applied for the upcoming Hajj under the regular Hajj scheme.
In a social media post on X, the ministry highlighted that the deadline for submitting the applications under the regular Hajj scheme ended today.
‘The deadline for submitting applications under the Sponsorship Scheme would end on December 31st,’ it said on Friday.
The ministry confirmed that the balloting for successful Hajj applicants would be held on December 28th as the number of applicants under the regular scheme has exceeded the quota allocated to Pakistan.
‘The number of applications till Friday prayers reached 66,000,’ stated the ministry and affirmed that there would be no more extension in the deadline.
The ministry also highlighted that the authorities in Saudi Arabia have set a deadline of January 2 for the airlines to submit their schedules for the upcoming Hajj.
The government had initially set December 12th as the deadline which was extended till December 22nd. 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 government has introduced the Short Hajj package for the first time 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.
The government had also sought the support of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to launch awareness campaigns to attract more and more applicants though the inflation in the country is visibly discouraging Muslims from applying fo the spiritual journey.
