ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony would conduct another balloting to distribute additional 9,600 quota among the unsuccessful applicants of Government Hajj Scheme,Joint Secretary Hajj, Zeenat Bangash said.
Talking to APP, he said Saudi Government has given additional quota of 16,000 to Pakistan. Out of which 60 percent will be allocated to the remaining applicants of Government Hajj Scheme,who were declared unsuccessful in recent balloting. The balloting will be conducted after receiving the notification of additional quota alloyed by Saudi Government.
He said all unsuccessful applicants will be included in the balloting despite withdrawing money from their respective bank branches. However, they have to deposit Hajj dues immediately after selection through balloting. This year 216,542 applications were received this year, out of which 107, 526 were declared successful in a balloting conducted on March 11.
Meanwhile, the complaint disposal committee of Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony has black listed four Hajj Group Organisers (HGOs) from allocating quota owing to poor Hajj-2018 arrangements. The committee has also declared 16 HGOs as defaulters on failure to pay insurance dues of last year’s Hujjaj.
The Ministry has placed the names of 798 eligible quota holder HGOs on its website. The names of four HGOs have not been placed on the website due to submission of insufficient documents.
The black listed six companies included Al Hashmi, Rabo International Tours,Global Services, Al Makkah Salman Travels. The Ministry has announced maximum and minimum limits of private Hajj packages.
According to ministry, minimum private Hajj package from south zone should be Rs. 500,000 and maximum package Rs 1,400,000 whereas the minimum limit of private packages from north zone should be Rs 5,090,00 whereas maximum package would be Rs.1,410,000.
Additionally, the religious affairs ministry establish a dedicated Hajj helpline to promptly resolve any grievances of intending pilgrims. The helpline will provide them with the required information besides registering and resolving complaints relating to Hajj 2019.
According to ministry sources, the prospective pilgrims can register their complaints or seek information via the 042-111-725-425 helpline.They can also get answers about Hajj related queries via 051-9205696, 051-9216980, 051-9216981 and 051-9216982.
As per the Haj Policy 2019 released by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, a total of 200,000 Pakistani pilgrims will perform Hajj this year.