Submission of Hajj applications begins

Pakistan

Submission of Hajj applications begins

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The process of submission of Hajj applications under Government Hajj Scheme started on Wednesday.

02 May,2012 11:46 am

The applications will be received from May 2 till May 11, on a first come first serve basis, by the designated branches of 11 Pakistani banks throughout the country.Besides compulsory Hajj dues, all the applicants are required to present their CNIC issued by NADRA along with the application form, machine readable international passport which should be valid up to April 21, 2013 or receipt of passport application issued by the immigration and passport office, 12 photographs of 4x3 cm size in light blue background and medical certificate issued by a medical officer.In case of women, Mahram’s name and relationship must also be highlighted in the relevant column of the application form.A total of 179,210 Pakistanis will perform Hajj during the current year. Half of them will perform Hajj under the government scheme while the rest privately.Keeping in view the distance of residence from Haram Sharif, opted by the intending pilgrims of government scheme, they have been divided into Green, Blue and White categories. The intending pilgrims, who would be ask for residential facilities within 900 meters of Haram Sharif, would be placed in the Blue category.The Green category residences will be located from 901 to 2000 meters from Haram Sharif. White category pilgrims would be provided residences from over 2,000 meters from Haram Sharif.The white category pilgrims belonging to South region including Karachi, Sukkur and Quetta will have to pay Rs221,000. The same area people of Green category will have to pay Rs256,000 and of Blue category the amount is Rs319,000.The pilgrims from North regions including Lahore, Multan, Islamabad and Peshawar will have to pay Rs233,000 for white category, Rs268,000 for Green category and Rs331,000 for the Blue category.The Hujaj will be airlifted by four air carriers PIA, Shaheen Air International, Saudi Airline and Nas Air. Airfare for Haj-2012 as finalised with PIA will be Rs73,000 for the south region and Rs85,000 for the north region.Any person who has performed Hajj during the last five years will not be eligible to perform Haj in 2012 except Mehram, group leader or anyone undertaking Haj-e-Badal.Five percent of the total seats under government scheme will be reserved for hardship cases, applicants belonging to far-flung and rural areas of Gilgit Baltistan, Balochistan and remote and rural areas of Sindh and Punjab and pilgrims recommended and funded by charitable institutions, labour and low paid employees of different public sector organisations and corporate entities under the concept of corporate social responsibility.