Pakistan’s Caretaker Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Aneeq Ahmed on Friday announced balloting for the upcoming Hajj. According to detail, 69, 438 applications were received under the Regular Hajj Scheme and 63,805 of them remained successful in the balloting. He said that our endeavors to reduce the cost of Hajj package also brought results and we have succeeded in reducing Rs 100,000 from the total expense of the Hajj package. A waiting list of unsuccessful 5,633 applicants has been prepared as per their cities of departure. Applicants on the waiting list will be selected if intending pilgrims belonging to that city withdraw their Hajj application. All applicants will be apprised tonight via mobile SMS, website, or the mobile App. However, the Sponsorship Scheme will continue by Sunday. Speaking on the occasion, Aneeq Ahmed said first time that the short Hajj is being facilitated by Pakistan. The religious minister of Pakistan said among the applicants, 56 percent are women and 44 percent are men. The minister said we will provide each pilgrim a Suitcase with QR code so that neither Haji nor Haji’s belongings get lost. He said each pilgrim will be provided a data bundle of 7 Gbs.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)