Pakistan to surrender Hajj quota to Saudi Arabia

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to surrender the quota of the Hajj sponsorship scheme this year to Saudi Arabia as applications fell short of the available seats, ARY News reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

The government has allocated 25,000 seats in the ‘Sponsorship Scheme Hajj’, introduced by the government this year, allowing overseas Pakistanis to apply for Hajj or sponsor someone in Pakistan for the journey by paying in US dollars. In return, applicants would not have to participate in the balloting process.

Only 4,000 applications were received against the quota of 25,000 in the government Sponsorship Hajj Scheme, sources told ARY News, adding that the unutilised 21, 000 quota will be returned to Saudi Arabia.

As per the sources, the government received 69, 438 applications in the regular Hajj scheme. Sources claimed that 5, 633 applicants were declared unsuccessful in the regular Hajj scheme draw.

Instead of accommodating the unsuccessful applicants of the government’s regular scheme, sources claimed, the government had refunded the amount.

Saudi Arabia had restored Pakistan’s pre-coronavirus Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims and lifted the upper age limit of 65 years to perform the pilgrimage.

The quota for Pakistanis performing the pilgrimage under the government’s regular scheme next year is 89,605, with the pilgrimage expected to cost Rs1,075,000 per head.

Despite slashing Hajj expenses and introducing short-term Hajj facilities, the number of applications has dropped this year too. The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony had to return the quota of almost 20,000 to Saudi Arabia after dropping in Hajj pilgrims last year.

To attract pilgrims, the government introduced both long and short-term packages spanning over 38 to 42 and 20 to 25 days, respectively.

Meanwhile, women, for the first time, can undertake the sacred journey without the traditional requirement of a male companion. Furthermore, the government would provide free-of-cost mobile SIMs with roaming internet packages.