Islamabad: The government has decided to return Rs5 billion to Hajj pilgrims taken for the acquisition of residences for them in Saudi Arabia, the religious affairs ministry announced on Tuesday.
The spokesperson for the ministry, Imran Siddiqui, made the announcement after the successful completion of a phase of computerised balloting for Hajj hopefuls.
He further told media persons that ministry will start returning the amount to pilgrims from July 3 onwards and it can be collected from the haji camps set up across the country.
Each pilgrim will be paid Rs26,000 to Rs67,000 by the ministry depending on how far their residence is in Makkah from the holy site where Hajj and other rituals are performed.
The spokesperson further added that under the government scheme, this year, a total of 123,316 people will perform Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
He also asked the participants who got selected in the scheme to submit their dues and documents in the designated banks by July 10.
Road to Makkah project
The Road to Makkah project will be made functional on July 5. All chartered flights from Islamabad to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be arranged under this initiative.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the project on July 5,” the spokesperson added.