Haj applications to be received from May 1 to 13

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Mufti Abdul Shakoor said on Friday that applications for Haj will be received from May 1-13.

Addressing a news conference here, the minister said applicants would deposit token money of Rs50,000 with the application to be submitted to scheduled banks designated by the Ministry.

In the past, it was a practice that the applicants had to deposit the whole Haj expenditures in the account of the Ministry for over two months, and the unsuccessful applicants were refunded the amount after balloting.

He said the total amount of Haj will be announced after confirmation from Saudi authorities. "However, it is expected that the cost of Haj this year may be around Rs 0.7m to 1m", he said, adding that Pakistan has received a Haj quota of 81,132 pilgrims this year with a 40 per cent share of the government scheme and 60 per cent private scheme.

He said due to an increase in the cost of services and taxes by the Saudi government, an increment would be expected in the Haj expenses. Shakoor said the Saudi Haj ministry used to provide Haj guidelines and expenditures in advance but due to Coivd-19, the details of Haj expenses were being awaited. In this context, the ministry' s directorate general in Jeddah was in constant contact with his Saudi counterparts to settle down the issues of mutual interest as soon as possible, he added.

He said the Saudi Haj ministry had given the deadline of May 16, to complete all the codal formalities for smooth sailing of Haj 2022. Keeping in view the time constraints and official hiccups, the ministry had decided to ask the aspirant pilgrims to submit their applications in designated branches of the scheduled banks with token money of Rs50,000, he added. He said the applications could be submitted via online and banks from May 1, to May 13 while the token money could be deposited from May 9, to May 13. The minister said this exercise would help manage the time as the official business during the Eid holidays would be suspended. He also made it clear that Covid and booster jab, and PCR test before 72 hours of departure for Haj were mandatory.

To a query, he said he would personally monitor the whole Haj process and if someone was found criminally negligent, he would be treated as per law of the land. He said the upper age limit for pilgrims is 65, and the successful applicants will get a Covid-19 booster dose.