ISLAMABAD – The government of Pakistan is expecting a reduction of the Hajj quota for the country for next year if the number of slots is not filled.
Secretary, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Dr. Syed Atta ur Rehman, held a press conference on Monday and detailed that even this year, the quota was not fully utilized.
Revealing the details, the official highlighted that more than 65,000 Pakistani pilgrims would avail Saudi Arabia’s Road to Makkah Initiative this year compared to 26,000 pilgrims who availed the facility from Islamabad in 2023.
As per the details, 41,000 of the 65,000 pilgrims will avail the facility under the government’s Hajj scheme while the remaining 24,000 will use private tour operators for immigration clearance at Islamabad and Karachi airports.
Regarding the airports, 29,500 pilgrims will use this facility from Islamabad while 35,500 from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.
The official told the newsmen that 69,000 Pakistani Muslims will perform the pilgrimage under the government scheme and of these, 64,000 pilgrims will perform under the general scheme. In contrast, over 5,000 will perform the religious duty under the sponsorship scheme.
The number of pilgrims performing Hajj through private schemes is still unknown as the registration is still underway.
The top official also elaborated that in 2023, the government charged Rs1,155,000 ($4,143) from the south zone and Rs1,175,000 ($4,215) from the north zone, whereas this year it is Rs1,055,000 ($3,784) and Rs1,075,000 ($3,856), respectively.
The Secretary detailed that the government has reduced the cost of plane tickets from last year, bringing it down to between Rs15,000-35,000 for Muslims.
It is to be highlighted that the flight operation would begin on May 9th from Pakistan and would continue till June 9th for which the arrangements have been finalized.
