Hajj expenditure per pilgrim for 2011 announced

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs announced Hajj expenditure to stand at Rs190,000 per pilgrim.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Syed Khursheed Shah on Wednesday announced that Hajj expenditure for 2011 will stand at Rs190,000 per pilgrim.

Speaking to the media outside the National Assembly, Shah said the Hajj policy was under review and that the ministry had curtailed expenditures after receiving complaints from pilgrims.

Shah added that the ministry had started renting buildings in Saudi Arabia to facilitate pilgrims from Pakistan.

Applications for Hajj will be collected on April 10.

The FIA is currently probing an embezzlement of millions of rupees in Hajj affairs, the crossfire over which provoked Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani into axing two federal ministers from the cabinet.

The corruption and irregularities in the Hajj scam which had put anextra burden of Rs35,000 on each pilgrim this year and led to the sacking of former federal minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi and Azam Swati has sent ripple effects through the political landscape of the country ending up in the JUI-F quiting from the coalition.

A Saudi prince had previously written a letter claiming that Pakistani government officials had refused his offer of a cheaper place of accommodation, opting instead for a more expensive residential area. The Chief Justice had taken suo moto notice of the case.