Pakistan’s Caretaker Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Aneeq Ahmed, made an announcement regarding the upcoming Hajj 2024, revealing that a ballot aka draw had been conducted for the process.
In the Regular Hajj Scheme, a total of 69,438 applications were submitted, with 63,805 of them successfully chosen through the balloting process. The results of the draw will be communicated to all applicants tonight through mobile SMS, the official website, or the mobile app. Additionally, the draw results can be verified on the designated inquiry website at http://inquiry.hajjinfo.org/.
Aneeq Ahmed highlighted the success in reducing the overall cost of the Hajj package, stating, “Our efforts to decrease the Hajj package cost have yielded a reduction of Rs 100,000.”
A waiting list for the 5,633 unsuccessful applicants has been prepared based on their departure cities. If intending pilgrims from a specific city withdraw their Hajj application, individuals on the waiting list from that city will be selected.
Aneeq Ahmed also noted that this marks the first time that Pakistan is facilitating a ‘short Hajj.’ Among the applicants, 56 percent are women, and 44 percent are men.
Furthermore, the minister emphasized that each pilgrim will receive a suitcase with a QR code to prevent any loss of belongings, and a data bundle of 7 GBs will be provided to each pilgrim.
