The federal cabinet which is scheduled to meet on Thursday (today) with Prime Minister in the chair will consider Hajj Policy and Plan 2019, with massive increase in expenses including fare, well informed official sources told Business Recorder. Giving the background, the sources said that bilateral ministerial meetings between the Ministry of Religious Affairs, government of Pakistan and the Ministry of Hajj, of Saudi Arabia were held from 9th to 12th December, 2018 in which various Hajj related annual agreements were signed.
The sources said various meetings of Hajj Policy formation committee constituted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan were held for framing the Hajj Policy 2019 on the basis of an in-depth analysis and consultation with all stakeholders. According to sources, there is an increase of approximately Rs 157, 000 in the Hajj package as compared to Hajj 2017-18. The following options with cost impact have been proposed for consideration of cabinet to meet the increase: (i) 100 percent by Government (Rs 16.876 billion) ;(ii) 100 percent by Hajj (no cost);(iii) 50:50 percent by the government and Hajj (Rs.8.438 billion);(iv) 1/3rd by Hajj and 2/3rd by Government (Rs 11.251 billion); and (v) food charges by the government (Rs 4.121 billion)
However, after consultation with the Finance Division, Ministry of Religious Affairs has recommended that Hajj package should come down from Rs.436,975 (North) and Rs 426,975 (South) to Rs.398,646 (North) and Rs 388,646 (South).
Salient features of the Hajj Policy and Plan 2019 are as follows:- (i) the slogan for Hajj-2019 is Haji is my Master;(ii) Hajj quota allocated to Pakistan is 179,210 + 5,000 for Hajj-2019;(iii) Hajj scheme 2019 shall be implemented through government and private Hajj Group Organizations (HGOs) with the ratio of 60:40 and additional quota of 5,000 will also be allotted to enrolled non-quota holders;(iv) 10,000 seats each have been reserved for senior citizen (above the age of 80 years) and applicants who remained unsuccessful in ballot continuously for the last three years, i.e. 2016, 2017 and 2018;(v) 1.5 percent of the total seats under Government scheme will be reserved for hardship cases;(vi) 500 seats will be reserved for labour/ low paid employees of companies registered with Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) and Workers Welfare (WWF) sponsored by their respective organisations under their Corporate Social Responsibility;(vii) there shall be no free Hajj;(vii) Hajj dues for Hajj 2019 under Government Hajj Scheme will be Rs 436,975 and Rs 426,975 for North (Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Multan and Rahim Yar Khan) and South (Karachi, Quetta and Sukkur) regions respectively, Qurbani charges will be Rs 19,451/;(ix) the selection of Hujjaj of Government Hajj scheme will be made through computerized balloting;(x) those applicants including Hajj-e-Badal/ Nafal Hajj would be entertained who have not performed hajj under Government scheme for the last 5 years, i.e. from 2014 onward. This restriction will not apply to Mehram of a lady and those who want to avail private Hajj scheme; (xi) it would be mandatory for a female pilgrim of any age to be accompanied by a Mehram. However, in case of Fiqah Jafria female pilgrim above the age of 45 years, mandatory condition of Mehram shall be implemented in the light of Saudi taleemat; (xii) all the Hujjaj will be provided five liters of ZamZam; (xiii) Hujjaj Mohafiz Scheme based on the concept of Takaful will continue in Hajj Policy 2019;(xiv) a comprehensive awareness and training campaign will be launched for Hujjaj and welfare staff; (xv) each HGO is required to submit performance guarantee @ 5% of packages (package & quota) in the form of bank/ cash guarantee which will be released on satisfactory performance;(xvi) Hajj dues will be deposited in Shariah complaint accounts/ instruments by designated banks;(xvii) monitoring and supervision mechanism for Hajj operation of both government & private schemes will be ensured;(xviii) to facilitate Hujjaj, Hajj Medical Mission, Moavineen-i-Hujjaj, seasonal staff of MORA & IH and KSA-based Moavineen-i-Hujjaj will be deputed as per requirement in KSA for Hajj 201; and (xix) some new initiatives are under process to be introduced for Hajj 2019, i.e, launching of Road to Makkah project at JIA, Karachi.
Comments
Comments are closed.