Govt’s Hajj 2024 scheme fails to attract enough applications

Journalist Rana Ghulam Qadir has published a report in The News about the shocking drop in the number of applications submitted for the Hajj 2024.

The report states the last date for receiving Hajj applications is approaching. The Ministry of Religious Affairs said on Tuesday that the number of applications received in five days from November 27 to December 5 was disappointing. One week is left till the ending date.

The number of Hajj quotas under the government scheme is 89,605. Out of this, the quota of the sponsorship scheme has been fixed at 25,000. According to the ministry, the number of Hajj applications received in the last ten days is 12,600.

Out of them, 800 have come under the sponsorship scheme while the remaining one comes under the regular scheme.

In the past, a large number of applications was submitted in the initial days, but this year the number is very low. There is a possibility that there may not be a required number of applications as per the Hajj quota, especially since the target of the sponsorship scheme seems difficult to achieve.

Officials of the ministry said that if the target is not met by December 12, the deadline will be extended.

One reason for the low demand is inflation and the other reason is that Hajj is in June and the ministry is already moving six months in advance. The ministry sought the applications early so that Hajj arrangements could be improved.