The federal government has decided to send 10,000 senior citizens on Hajj in 2019 without having to wait for the lucky draw, local media reports said.

The Ministry for Religious Affairs reportedly decided this in a meeting, and after getting a nod from the cabinet, it has made all the necessary arrangements in this regard.

As per the report, this year, a total of 107,000 pilgrims will go to Saudi Arabia for Hajj under the government’s quota, out of which 87,000 will go through the lucky draw process.

The report suggests that old-age citizens, over 80 years of age, will not have to participate in the lucky draw and will directly go for Hajj under the government’s Hajj 2019 scheme.

The government has also decided to include people who had been rejected during the past three years in this quota.

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The report also suggests that the federation is mulling to allow as much as 5,000 laborers for Hajj on subsidy under the scheme.

Here’s what the report says:

It is worth mentioning here that the government is going to announce Hajj expenses for 2019 soon. As per sources, the government aims at securing a subsidy of Rs. 40,000 per person on Hajj expenses that, if approved, will cap the total cost at Rs. 380,000.

However, until the subsidy gets approved, the entire cost of this holy journey will be marked at Rs. 420,000 per person. Last year, the Hajj expenses for Pakistan’s southern and northern regions amounted to Rs. 270,000 and Rs. 280,000 apart from the separate charges valuing Rs. 13,050 for the animal sacrifice.