The deadline for submitting applications for the Hajj under the funding program has been extended, according to a statement from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony.
The Ministry’s most recent announcement states that the deadline for submitting applications for the sponsorship program for Hajj 2023 has been prolonged to 7th April.
Interested pilgrims have until 7th April, to send their applications. The Ministry has also instructed all diplomatic missions to inform overseas Pakistanis of the extension in the sponsorship deadline for the Hajj programme.
This is the formal announcement:
Intentional Hajj pilgrims are in confusion because the Ministry has only issued a notification and has not stated whether the balloting date for Hajj under the government program will alter.
The voting deadline, which is 5th April, was recently announced. If voting under both the regular and sponsorship schemes is to be done simultaneously, then the Ministry will likely announce a new voting date shortly.
This year, a package hike of Rs.350,000 announced by the Religious Affairs Minister resulted in a substantial increase in the cost of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Due to this, Pakistan’s Government Hajj expenses have increased to over Rs.1.175 million, a significant rise from the cost of Rs. 826,000 last year.
The rise in costs can be attributed to rising food and lodging costs, as well as general inflation.
