ISLAMABAD: Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Chaudhry Salik Hussain has said that this year the government has divided the Hajj quota equally into public and private schemes.
Unveiling Hajj Policy 2025, he said 179,210 Pakistanis will perform Hajj in 2025. He said 89,605 seats have been reserved each for the government and the private Hajj schemes. Moreover, 5,000 seats will be kept for sponsorship scheme under the government Hajj Scheme while 30,000 seats will be allocated to the private hajj tour operators for sponsorship.
The government sponsorship scheme will operate on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and will be exempted from balloting. Under the scheme, traditional long stay will be of 38 to 42 days, and the short stay will be 20 to 25 days. He said each organized private Hajj group must consist of at least 2,000 pilgrims as per Saudi regulations.
The cost for the government Hajj scheme was expected to range between 1,075,000 to 1,175,000 rupees while the additional cost for the sacrifice will be Rs55,000.
He said the first installment of Hajj dues, amounting to 200,000 rupees, must be deposited along with the Hajj application under the Government Hajj Scheme, while the second installment of 400,000 rupees must be deposited within ten days of the balloting. He further said the remaining amount must be deposited by February 10 next year.
