Govt likely to decrease Hajj, Umrah prices for Pakistani pilgrims

RIYADH: Federal Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Muhammad Yousaf has praised Saudi travel and hospitality companies for launching a $40 million fund to ease the costs of Pakistani Hajj and Umrah pilgrims.

Addressing a ceremony, the minister said that the scheme could bring down the cost of pilgrimage per person by as much as Rs50,000, bringing a welcome relief to thousands of Pakistani pilgrims.

The overall fund, which is equivalent to about Rs15 billion in domestic currency, is expected to bring major improvements in services and affordability for Hajj and Umrah travelers.

The minister further announced that a new prayer calendar (Nizam-e-Salat) will be introduced in Islamabad shortly to foster religious harmony.

He further said that Pakistani pilgrims going to Iran, Iraq, and Syria would now be grouped together, just like the arrangements being made for Hajj and Umrah.

At another meeting with the Shia Ulema Council delegation, efforts for peace and inter-sect harmony throughout the nation were highlighted. Both parties agreed to work together and bring about religious harmony.

Referring to recent news, Sardar Yousaf said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has turned down the preliminary probe into the 63,000 pilgrims’ case who could not fulfill their Hajj. Now, a second committee has been entrusted with a new inquiry into the situation.