Islamabad: It has happened for the first time in the country’s history that the Hajj quota was not completed and was returned to Saudi Arabia.
It has been confirmed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs that the government scheme’s quota of 8,000 pilgrims has been returned, the reason being that the Hajj quota had to be returned due to the low number of applications received under the government scheme.
According to the Ministry of Hajj sources, if the Hajj quota was not returned, an additional 24 million dollars would have to be paid in the form of accommodation rent and other expenses. The decision to return the Hajj quota was taken by the Federal Cabinet.
It should be noted that due to the expensive Hajj, many Pakistanis could not apply this year.
According to the sources, there has been a long-standing demand of Pakistan that the Hajj quota should be increased from 179,210 to 210,000 or 20,000 in proportion to the previous census. Hajj quota has been received, and it has also not been fully utilized.
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