Minister for Religious Affairs, Mufti Abdul Shakoor, on Friday said that Pakistani pilgrims can submit their Hajj 2023 applications to banks from March 16 to March 31 with the draw taking place during first week of April.
“According to the financial breakup, the estimated cost of Hajj from the northern region (Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Rahim Yar Khan, Sialkot) is Rs1,175,000, while for the Sponsorship Hajj Scheme (northern region) is approximately $4,325.” said the minister.
Meanwhile, the estimated cost of Hajj from the southern region (Karachi, Quetta, Sukkur) is Rs. 1,165,000, while the Sponsorship Hajj Scheme (southern region) is approximately $4,285, he added.
He also assured that in case of savings from the above-mentioned Hajj 2023 package, the pilgrims would be refunded via bank accounts provided by them, while pilgrims/applicants of the sponsorship Hajj scheme with no bank account would be provided the refund in cash.
The minister added that global recession and the constant depreciation of the Pakistani Rupee has made the cost of Hajj this year under the government scheme much higher (an increase of Rs. 300,000).
Talking about the train facility in Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat, which was unavailable last year, the minister said that pilgrims will be able to avail these train services, but need to pay for this facility themselves.
The minister said that Sponsorship Hajj scheme required a total of $284 million and it would provide $194 million, while the Finance Minister had pledged to provide the remaining $90 million.
Abdul Shakoor also said that 179,210 people would perform Hajj this year, adding that quota will be divided into public and private Hajj schemes with a ratio of 50% each, respectively.
Meanwhile, he added that 50% of quota of public and private Hajj schemes, which is 44,802 seats in each, will be reserved for the Sponsorship Hajj scheme and the registrations will be stopped ones all quotas are filled.
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