Pakistan receives just over 3,800 applications for Hajj sponsorship scheme as deadline ends

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has received a little more than 3,800 applications for its Hajj sponsorship scheme against a quota of 25,000 individuals this year, the Pakistani religious affairs ministry said on Sunday, as an extended deadline to apply under the scheme ended.
The Hajj sponsorship scheme 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.
Out of Pakistan’s total quota of 179,210 pilgrims, 89,000 had been allocated to government schemes, while the remaining would be facilitated by private Hajj operators. Under the government’s general scheme, 63,805 individuals remained successful in balloting held this week, while a quota of 25,000 was allotted for the sponsorship scheme.
“Today is the last day for the Hajj sponsorship scheme, and there will be no further extension in it,” Muhammad Umer Butt, a spokesperson for the Pakistani religious affairs ministry, told Arab News.
“The total quota this year is 25,000 while we have received 3,840 applications so far.”
Butt said the exact figure would be clear by the next week and any remaining unutilized quota would be returned to Saudi Arabia, as announced by the government.
The Pakistani religious ministry has already conveyed the anticipated number of pilgrims to different airlines so that they could submit their flight schedules to the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation within its deadline of January 2, according to Butt. This would help ensure seamless flight operations for Hajj 2024.
Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage that requires every Muslim adult to undertake a journey to the holy sites in Makkah at least once in their life if they are physically and financially capable of doing so.