ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to accept all applications and send all 72,869 applicants on Hajj without balloting, ARY News reported on Thursday.
According to details, the decision has been taken on the direction of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and on the recommendation of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has revealed that the Religious Ministry received 72,869 applications under the regular Hajj scheme against this year’s quota of 44,190.
He announced that the federal government has decided to accept all applications and send all 72,869 applicants on Hajj without balloting.
Ishaq Dar also said that the Religious Ministry will require additional resources including foreign exchange to send more Hajj pilgrims than the fixed quota under the regular scheme.
A day earlier, it was reported that the balloting for government Hajj Scheme was postponed which was scheduled for Wednesday.
According to a spokesperson of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, new date for balloting will be announced later.
Earlier, the federal government decided to extend the date for receiving applications under the regular Hajj scheme till Sunday while the date for sponsorship Hajj scheme was extended till April 9th.
