Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Noorul Haq Qadri on Friday said only those people who have resources should perform Hajj. Talking to media in Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University Peshawar, the minister said more than 1,84,000 Pakistanis will go on Hajj this year. He said Hajj expenditures increase every year due to hike in prices.
It is to be mentioned here that as per new policy, the Hajj expenses for southern areas will be Rs 4,26,000 which was Rs 2,70,000 last year. Besides this Rs 1,56,000 raise has been made in the Hajj expenses for people living in northern areas taking it to a total of Rs 4,36,000 from Rs 2,80,000.
He said the Ministry of Religious Affairs was desired to provide subsidy to people on Hajj. However, he said the Prime Minister Imran Khan and Federal Cabinet turned down the proposal.
According to the federal cabinet, the minister said that it is right of only those people who have resources to perform Hajj. He said that both rich and poor are taking benefit from subsidy on Hajj till 2018. He said the Hajj subsidy will be spent on other welfare activities in the country.
According to decisions of the federal cabinet, the minister said that the direct Hajj flights will also be launched from Quetta for the first time under the new policy. It was also decided that the intending pilgrims will be provided biometric system facility at local level to expedite the processing of Hajj applications, he added.
The minister mentioned a quota of 10,000 pilgrims has been reserved for elderly citizens while another portion of 500 pilgrims has been fixed for low income group.
The minister has rejected the report about showing annoyance during the meeting of federal cabinet. He said he had come out from the meeting to attend call on his cell phone. So, he said there was no reality in this report.
The minister welcomed the holding of proivincial cabinet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa meeting in tribal Khyber district other day. He said the federal cabinet meeting will also be held in tribal region soon.
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