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Summary The Federal cabinet has approved Hajj Policy 2011 on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani chaired the cabinet meeting. Under the new Hajj Policy, there will be no balloting for Hajj this year as formula of “First come, First-served”will be applied to ensure transparency in the entire process. Around 179,256 intending pilgrims will be sent to Saudi Arabia under both the government and private Hajj schemes. The Religious Affairs Ministry will have the quota of 13,500 pilgrims and each pilgrim will be allowed to carry 1,000 riyals with him.Under the Green category, pilgrims will be accommodated in a radius of less than 2,000 metre from Haram Sharif and the pilgrims performing Hajj under White category will be accommodated more than 2,000 away from Hram Sharif. The Hajj expenses from Karachi, Quetta and Sukkur will be Rs 208,000 and from other cities Rs 212,847. A pilgrim protection fund has also been established and each pilgrim will have to pay Rs 400 as Takaful charges as in case of death of a pilgrim, his family will receive Rs 200,000.
