Federal Govt proposes short-duration Hajj packages 

• He said 18 to 20-day Hajj package will be given in 2024.
• Minister said shorter Hajj will be decided by pilgrims themselves.
• He said that this proposal will be considered by interim government.

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Aneeq Ahmed said that the duration of official Hajj is proposed to be reduced from 45 days next year.

In a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs, Aneeq Ahmed said that an 18 to 20-day Hajj package will be given in 2024, 40 days or shorter Hajj will be decided by pilgrims themselves.

The chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs said that the short Hajj should be conducted for 30 days, on which the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs said that this proposal will be considered.

Chairman Hajj Operators Association said that they have signed a five-year residency agreement in Saudi Arabia, the country that gets the Hajj quota has the will to manage it.

Caretaker Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Aneeq Ahmed said the Saudi government has decided that only 46 companies will run Hajj operations from Pakistan.

Senator Maulana Abdul Kareem said that changing 905 companies into 46 companies would cause problems. The Saudi government implemented such a ban on America and European countries a few years ago. The Saudi government has rejected the protests of America and European countries.

He further said “We cannot do anything, but we can request a one-year extension. It can be said in a letter to the Saudi government that since the decision was taken suddenly, there will be difficulties in its implementation”.

Senator Maulana Faiz Muhammad said that the implementation of the new plan should be assured from next year and the government has to solve the problem by talking with Saudi Arabia.

The Federal Minister for Religious Affairs said that he asked Saudi Arabia to review the decision to convert 900 Hajj companies into 46 companies, but they did not agree.  The government will write a letter to the Saudi government at the request of the Standing Committee.

He said that the Saudi government is planning to increase the number of Hajj pilgrims to 10 million. At present, the Road to Mecca project is running only from Islamabad. The Saudi government has decided to include Karachi in the Road to Mecca in the next Hajj.

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Officials of the Ministry of Religious Affairs said that the Hajj Policy 2024 will be presented to the cabinet for approval soon, while the interim federal minister said that there is a proposal to reduce the duration of Hajj from 45 days.