There are only four days left for the commencement of Hajj flights, but a permanent minister for Religious Affairs and a Secretary in the ministry, have not been appointed yet.

No progress could be made on the issue of 5,633 applications that failed in the Hajj lottery due to the non-appointment of a permanent minister and secretary of the department, reports Geo News.

No request has been sent to the Prime Minister for the pilgrims who failed in the lottery.

As per statistics, this year about 160,000 pilgrims will go to Hijaz to perform Hajj, while 19,500 Hajj quota is being returned to Saudi Arabia.

Sources of the Ministry of Religious Affairs further told Geo that the Hajj quota has been returned to Saudi Arabia for two years but if the Hajj quota is returned in the future, Pakistan’s quota may be reduced.

Federal Foreign Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain was given the additional charge of the Ministry of Religious Affairs on April 3, while Additional Secretary Syed Atta-ul-Rehman was given the additional charge of the Secretary of Religious Affairs on October 30 last year.