Cabinet to review Haj policy

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has withdrawn its decision to get the Haj Policy 2025 passed by the federal cabinet through circulation and now it would be presented in the cabinet meeting.

Official sources said that previously, approval was given to the Haj Policy 2025 through circulation and with the start of the process, majority of cabinet members had also signed the summary.

However, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, after an objection was raised by the Federal Minister for Establishment and Economic Affairs Ahad Cheema, directed to present the Haj policy before the cabinet meeting.

Ahad Cheema raised a point there has been a tradition of approval of Haj policy by the federal cabinet in its meeting. He further said that discussion in the cabinet meeting on some points of the policy was also required.

The prime minister agreed with the proposal of the minister, withdrew the decision to approve the policy through circulation and directed to present the same in the cabinet meeting. The Saudi government had allotted a quota of 179,210 Hujaj for Pakistan which would be bifurcated equally (89,605 each) between the government and private Haj schemes.

Out of the government Haj scheme, at least 5,000 seats would be reserved for sponsorship scheme, under which applicants would require to deposit their Haj dues in foreign exchange remitted from abroad through banking channels.

The intending pilgrims of the government sponsorship quota would be exempted from balloting and extended on the first-come-first-served basis. The quota of 25,000 in the private Haj scheme would be reserved for the sponsorship scheme. For the government Haj scheme, there would be the traditional long package of 38 to 42 days and a short package of 20 to 25 days.

Pakistan had surrendered the quota of 19,500 pilgrims last year due to poor response. Under the regular government Haj scheme, shared accommodation in accordance with Saudi laws and housing permits would be provided along with boarding and lodging services.

The selection of Hujaj would be made through computerised balloting. A hardship quota of 1,000 seats would be reserved to accommodate split/broken family, Mehram for successful ladies, attendants for disabled/special persons and any other hardship need. The applicants for hardship quota would be selected as per the guidelines issued by the ministry.

A quota of 300 seats would be reserved for low paid employees (BPS 1-9 or equivalent), labourers of public sector, corporate organisations, companies registered with the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) and Workers Welfare Fund.

Substitution cases would be entertained in respect of those successful applicants who could not proceed for Haj either due to death, serious illness or any other unavoidable reason, as per the guidelines issued by the ministry.

The tentative Haj package of the government scheme for Haj 2025 would be between Rs1,075,000 and Rs1,175,000. However, this is a tentative package, which is subject to finalisation of contracts with service providers for air fare, accommodation, transport, etc.

The applicants would be Pakistani citizens having valid Pakistani passport up to December 16, 2025. Children under the age of 12 years are not permitted to participate in Haj 2025 as per the directions issued by the Saudi government.