ISLAMABAD: In a blow to Pakistan, the government’s Hajj sponsorship scheme was able to attract only 7,000 applications against a total quota of 44,000, a spokesperson of Pakistan’s religion ministry confirmed on Thursday.
The ‘Sponsorship Scheme Hajj’ is a new initiative that was introduced by the government this year, allowing overseas Pakistanis to apply for Hajj or sponsor someone in Pakistan for the journey by paying in US dollars. In return, the applicants would not have to participate in the balloting process for the pilgrimage.
The development is a setback for the government as Pakistan hoped the scheme would help generate $194 million out of the total $284 million required for its 2023 Hajj Operation. The scheme was an important one for Islamabad, especially as the South Asian country struggles to shore up its rapidly depleting dollar reserves and tries to avoid an acute balance of payments crisis.
This year, Saudi Arabia restored Pakistan’s pre-coronavirus Hajj ratio of 179,210 pilgrims and also lifted the upper age limit of 65 years. Pakistan’s Ministery of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony had announced it would reserve 50 percent of the Hajj quota from the government scheme for overseas Pakistanis in the sponsorship scheme.
“The Ministry of Religious Affairs has set a quota of around 44,000 each for both the sponsorship and regular schemes for Hajj under the government scheme this year,” Muhammad Umer Butt, spokesperson for the religious affairs ministry, told Arab News.
“However, under the sponsorship scheme, only around 7,000 applications have been received against the quota of 44,000 so far.”
Butt said the regular Hajj scheme received approximately 73,000 applications, which was significantly more than the allocated quota of 44,000. Under the sponsorship scheme, he said, applicants were required to send direct foreign remittances in dollars.
“Some payments are still pending due to issues with banking channels and the lengthy process of a remittance transfer to Pakistan, [which are] passing through three to four different banks,” Butt explained, adding that the government has received a total of around 80,000 applications for both schemes.
He said since the sponsorship scheme did not attract a lot of applications, the government has decided to allow all 80,000 applicants without balloting this year, adding that the decision has been approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), Pakistan’s top economic decision-making body and the federal cabinet.
Butt said the government would now collect pilgrims’ passports and ask them to enter their biometric verification data with the Saidu Hajj ministry from their smartphones. The religious affairs ministry has uploaded video tutorials to guide people on how to use a Saudi government’s app for their biometric verification process and other procedures.
“To proceed with the application, the user must provide a valid email address to receive a verification code,” Butt said. “Once verified, the user can upload a clear and recognizable passport picture. After that, the app prompts the user to take a selfie and provide their fingerprints,” he explained.
He said after the verification process, another email is sent to the user who will have to submit a printed copy of it to the bank.
“We have instructed all banks to assist pilgrims in their biometric process on the mobile app,” he said, adding that if people faced problems using the app, they could visit Gerry’s visa offices for biometric verification.
Butt said the ministry received complaints from some people who said they were not being facilitated at Gerry’s offices, adding that the staff there said they did not receive any instructions from the Pakistani embassy or the Saudi consulate.
He said the ministry had sent letters to all Gerry’s offices in January to assist Hajj pilgrims.
“We are working to resolve these issues on a daily basis,” he said, adding that it was challenging to cater to pilgrims who lived in remote areas and did not have access to either a smartphone or the Internet.
“We are working tirelessly at the ministry to complete all requirements within the given deadlines and make the pilgrimage easy for all Pakistanis,” he added.
