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Hajj Balloting For 50 Percent Candidates Today

Islamabad (March 01, 2018): The balloting for 50 percent successful candidates under government Hajj scheme 2018 will be held in Islamabad today (Thursday). Minister of State for Religious Affairs Pir Aminul Hasnat will preside over the balloting ceremony.

The decision to resume balloting process was taken in yesterday’s meeting of the Federal cabinet presided over by the Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbbasi.

The Federal Cabinet has allowed the Ministry of Religious Affairs to immediately carry out Hajj balloting for fifty percent of the total quota of Hajj pilgrims for the current year.

On January 26, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony halted the balloting of official Hajj applications due to ‘unclear’ policy on the quota of operators as well as a court stay order.The lucky draw was to be held at 4:00 pm today but a meeting of the ministry headed by Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf decided that the process will be held later. The new date for the draw will be announced afterwards.

Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Secretary Khalid Masood shared that the balloting has been halted due to various verdicts by three different courts on the quota issue.

He said that the Lahore High Court had ordered that quota for government and private Hajj operators should be 50/50.

Later, a two-member bench of the Sindh High Court had ordered that the quota should be 60 percent for government operators and 40 percent for private operators, he remarked, adding that on Thursday the Sindh High Court’s Sukkur Bench ordered a stay on the balloting process.

A petitioner had approached the high court against the clause in the government’s new policy which states that individuals need to wait for a certain period before performing the holy pilgrimage again.

On the other hand, federal cabinet had decided last year to keep the quota for government at 67 percent and for private tour operators at 33 percent, Masood said.Hajj quota has become a chronic issue since it surfaces every year with a number of petitions instituted against the government’s policy.

People proceeding on Hajj can either use private tour operators or the government quota which is finalised through a ballot.

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