Govt’s Hajj scheme: ballot today

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony would hold balloting on Sunday to select over 32,000 successful intending pilgrims out of the total 63,666 applicants who wanted to perform the religious obligation through the Government Hajj Scheme.

In a talk with APP on Saturday, Ministry’s spokesperson Muhammad Umar Butt told that the ministry had not extended the last date for the submission of Hajj applications due to time constraints.

He said for the convenience of overseas Pakistanis, the last date for submission of passports was Zu al-Qadah 20.

He said the process of receiving Hajj applications was started on May 1, and continued till May 13, through various designated branches of the 14 scheduled banks.

He said Pakistan received a Hajj quota of 81,132 pilgrims this year which was being distributed with the ratio of 40:60 percentages to the government and private schemes respectively.

Umar Butt, estimating the Hajj expenses, said this year the total Hajj cost was expected to be Rs 700 k to Rs 1 million, however, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has not provided the details of mandatory Hajj expenses yet.

The ministry would announce the overall Hajj expenses only after receiving details of mandatory Hajj expenses from the quarters concerned, he added.

He said the ministry had launched the “Hajj Helpline” with landline numbers – 051 9205696 and 051 9216980-82 to facilitate and guide the pilgrims, who could also get guidance from the official WhatsApp number 0306 3332555 via the short messaging service (SMS).

It may be mentioned that personal smart phones are mandatory for the pilgrims, who will have to download two approved mobile applications Tawakkalna and Eatmarna as per the instructions of the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Ummah.

The Saudi authorities have launched the two mobile App services to facilitate the overseas pilgrims for performing Umrah and Hajj, and to obtain visit permits for the Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madina.