FOR the first time in history, Pakistan has surrendered the quota allotted to it by Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrims as applications fell short of the available seats. According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the move was aimed at saving twenty-four million dollars as the government would have to pay this additional amount for accommodation.
The precedent has been that the number of applications for Hajj has always been far higher when compared with the hajj quota allotted for Pakistan. This is the reason that our authorities concerned used to engage with the Saudi friends for enhancement of Hajj quota. Even then balloting was used to be conducted to select the pilgrims. However, this year, due to significant increase in Hajj package to 11, 75,000 really held back the people from applying for Hajj. The people have been bitten hard by the unprecedented inflationary trends and now the Hajj cost has also gone beyond their reach because of various reasons primarily because of serious decline in the value of our rupee. The fact of the matter is that most of our people make savings for several years to perform this religious obligation. The employees embark upon the religious journey on age of superannuation when they get their retirement remuneration. Though efforts of incumbent Minister for Religious Affairs Senator Talha Mahmood to bring down the Hajj cost are really commendable and for this purpose he also visited Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and managed to hire accommodation for pilgrims at less rates when compared with the year of 2019, yet the current cost is beyond the reach of an ordinary Pakistani. This warrants out of box solution and we believe we can still make the Hajj affordable if the Ministry of Religious Affairs do the course correction. Firstly, the Ministry needs to cut down its own expenses that it incurs during Hajj season in Makkah and Madina. The number of staff that is sent every year from Pakistan can be reduced significantly. If the need arises, the Pakistanis already working in Saudi Arabia can be hired. Then most importantly, the Hajj cost can be significantly brought down by reducing the stay of Hujjaj in Saudi Arabia from current forty days to twenty days.
