Balloting underway for Government Hajj Scheme

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Balloting is underway for the Government Hajj Scheme here on Tuesday. Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Dr Noorul Haq Qadri is performing the balloting. The results of balloting will be uploaded on official web site of Ministry of Religious Affairs and applicants will also be informed via SMS. Meanwhile, the number of applications submitted for the Government Hajj Scheme has fallen by 40 per cent due to an increase in the pilgrimage expense. The banks have received a large number of applications over the last three days but the overall total is still only 216,425 as compared to 374,857 applications received last year and 338,696 applications in 2016. The substantial decrease in the number of Hajj applications is believed to be due to an increase of Rs 156,000 in the Hajj expense. Noting the low response, the Ministry of Religious Affairs had extended the deadline for submission of applications by three days but the move yielded no significant increase in the number of applications. As per the 2019 Hajj policy, about 184,200 Pakistanis will perform the Hajj in the current year. Of this total, 107,526 people will avail government Hajj schemes while 71,684 will utilize services provided by private tour operators to perform the Hajj. This year, the Hajj expense, excluding the cost of sacrificial animals, is Rs 436,975 rupees for the northern region and Rs 426,975 for the southern region.