Govt to accept applications for Haj 2019 between Feb 25 and March 6

The federal government will accept applications for its Haj scheme starting from February 25 until March 6 at 14 designated banks, Radio Pakistan reported on Tuesday.
As per the Haj Policy 2019 released by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, a total of 184,210 Pakistani pilgrims are to perform Haj this year.
The policy states that there would be no free Haj facility this year, according to the report. The 2019 Haj scheme will be implemented by the government as well as private Haj Group Organisers (HGOs) in the ratio of 60:40. The charges are exclusive of the cost for qurbani (animal sacrifice) services, which can be optionally availed for another Rs19,451. The aspiring pilgrims will be selected under the government scheme through a computerised ballot on March 8, Radio Pakistan reported.
This season, 10,000 seats will be reserved for senior citizens above the age of 80 and another 10,000 seats will be reserved for those individuals who had been unsuccessful in the ballot for the last three years. Under the government scheme, 1.5 per cent of the total seats will be reserved for hardship cases. Source: dawn.com