Islamabad (Agencies): The federal cabinet has approved the Hajj Policy 2025, paving the way for 179,210 Pakistani nationals to perform Hajj next year. This decision, taken in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, outlines several key aspects to facilitate pilgrims.
According to the new policy, the Hajj quota will be evenly split between government and private schemes, and children under 12 years of age will not be permitted to travel for Hajj. Selection for the government scheme will be conducted through a computerized balloting system to ensure transparency.
The policy allocates 1,000 seats for hardship cases and 300 for laborers and low-income employees registered under the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution or Workers Welfare Fund. Additionally, the “Road to Makkah” facility will be available at Islamabad and Karachi international airports to streamline the process for pilgrims.
Hajj Group Organisers will now be required to sign a Service Provider Agreement with the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which will be strictly monitored to ensure quality services. A new role, Nazim (administrator), has been introduced to assist pilgrims, with one Nazim appointed for every 100 pilgrims from among the welfare staff.
Compensation for the heirs of deceased pilgrims has been increased from Rs 1 million to Rs 2 million, while injured pilgrims will receive Rs 1 million. The government has also developed a special Hajj Management App to aid in the training and facilitation of pilgrims.
Preference will be given to those who could not succeed in last year’s balloting, and the cabinet emphasized the importance of taking all necessary measures to facilitate the pilgrims.
In other decisions, the cabinet approved the appointments of Saeed Iqbal, Moazzam Ahmed, Madiha Khalid, Usman Haider, and Muhammad Sajjad Farouqui to the board of the Public Private Partnership Authority. Additionally, the cabinet gave post facto approval to an agreement on the transfer of the Foreign Commercial Financing Facility from the London Interbank Offered Rate to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate and approved the Jammu and Kashmir Estate Property Budget for fiscal year 2024-25. An agreement between the Directorate General of Ports and Shipping Karachi and the Bahria Classification Society on the certification of ship classifications was also endorsed.