The Ministry of Religious Affairs has received around 81,000 Hajj applications under the government scheme, exceeding the quota of 80,000. "The Ministry is still receiving applications dispatched by the designated bank branches from the far-flung areas of the country. The balloting will be held to select the intending pilgrims, while the draw date will be announced in a few days," official sources told APP on Tuesday.
They said there would be no special quota and the Hujjaj would be selected 100 per cent through ballot under the government scheme. "No Hajj application will be entertained for repeat Hajj, if the applicant has performed Hajj during the last five years except in three cases ie Mahram of a lady who did not perform Hajj earlier, group leader and Hajj-e-Badal," they added.
This year, they said the Ministry has to accommodate around 8,000 to 10,000 applicants, who have been unsuccessful in the ballot during last two years consecutively and those who could not proceed to Saudi Arabia due to negligence of some Hajj group organisers.
The sources said last date to submit Hajj applications was twicely extended to facilitate the people living in far-fling areas, as they were facing difficulties in acquiring Machine Readable Passports, which has been made mandatory by the Saudi authorities.
They claimed that this year the Ministry would provide unprecedented facilities to Hujjaj performing the religious obligation under the government scheme. "Pakistan's Hajj package as compared to India and Bangladesh is inexpensive, while we are providing better facilities too. In old Mina where India would accommodate 22 pilgrims in a camp, Pakistan would allocate the same camp to 16 Hujjaj," the sources added.