Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Noor-ul-Haq Qadri Monday said that Hajj quota for Pakistan has been increased from 184,210 to 200,000 pilgrims this year. Pakistan has been given an additional quota of 15,790 pilgrims as a gift from Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman on the request of Prime Minister Imran Khan for which a second balloting for additional quota under the government scheme was held. The minister said this after performing the Hajj quota balloting,
Under the second balloting, 9,474 more pilgrims were selected under the government Hajj scheme through a transparent and computerised balloting. Successful applicants will be informed through SMS and those who have withdrawn their Hajj dues will be given time to redeposit the same.
Under the bifurcation policy, 40 percent of additional quota was allocated to private Hajj operators, while rest of the quota was given under the government scheme.
Intending pilgrims who remained unsuccessful in the first phase were eligible for balloting and those who had withdrawn their money from banks also got another chance of being selected. The minister said that his ministry is fully focused on providing best accommodation and transportation facilities to the intending pilgrims.