As many as 107,526 Hajj pilgrims have been selected out of 149,330 applicants under the government’s scheme in balloting held Thursday afternoon in Islamabad.

Successful candidates will be provided confirmation messages through SMS and they need to submit their medical certificates by March 19.

First three lucky group leaders are Syed Sohaib Ahmed from Bahawalpur, Muhammad Anwar Sufi from Islamabad and Kiramat Khan from Lakki Marwat. As per the policy, the open balloting selected group leaders which mean all group members of the group leader would automatically be considered successful.

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri performed the balloting through Punjab Information Technology Board portal. The results of balloting will be uploaded on the Ministry of Religious Affairs website today, the minister said addressing a press conference after the ceremony.

Right now, the message appeared on the website is: “The ballot results shall also be made available online today by the day end.”

Three-time unsuccessful candidates will automatically get the chance to perform Hajj this year, the minister said.

Overseas Quota:

1000 Hajj slots were allocated for overseas Pakistanis against the total 1286 applications submitted. 

The ministry asked the applicants to check their particulars on the website and get corrected the mistakes if any. The intending pilgrims have been advised to contact on these numbers 051-9205696 and 051-9216980-82 in case of any query.

This year, 10,000 quota has been set for the old citizens (up to 70 years) against the total applications of 12086.

Responding to a question, the minister said: “We have asked Saudi authorities to include Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta stations in Road to Makkah Project and now it is up to them to make final decisions.”

As per the Hajj Policy 2020, 179,210 Pakistanis are going to perform the sacred religious obligation, including 107,526 (60 percent) under the government Hajj scheme and 71,684 through Hajj Group Organisers (private schemes).