Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, on Sunday deferred second round of balloting to re-select another 9,600 from the unsuccessful applicants’ pool for Government Hajj Scheme. In a statement, the ministry’s spokesperson said that the new date for balloting would not be held on Monday and announced on a later occasion after seeking approval from the federal cabinet. Earlier on Friday, the ministry had stated that another round of balloting would be conducted on Monday. The spokesperson had claimed that the Saudi government had given Pakistan an additional quota of 16,000 pilgrims. Out of which, 60 per cent was said to be allocated to the applicants declared unsuccessful in the recent Government Hajj Scheme ballot.
He added all unsuccessful applicants would be included in the draw despite withdrawing money from their respective bank branches.
In case of selection, they would have to deposit dues within four days. This year, the government received as many as 216,542 applications for its Hajj 2019 scheme. Out of which, 107, 526 were chosen through a ballot conducted on March 11. Meanwhile, the religious affairs ministry also established a dedicated Hajj helpline for prompt resolution of any grievances of intending pilgrims. Besides registering and resolving complaints related to Hajj 2019, the helpline would provide the required information.
According to the ministry sources, the prospective pilgrims can register their complaints or seek information by calling on 042-111-725-425 They can also get answers about Hajj-related queries via phone calls on 051-9205696; 051-9216980; 051-9216981 and 051-9216982.
According to the Haj Policy 2019 released by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, a total of 200,000 Pakistani pilgrims would perform Hajj this year.
