ISLAMABAD, July 12: The government on Tuesday announced the Haj Policy for 2006 which keeps the number of pilgrims the same as last year but bans those who have performed Haj during the last five years.

A total of 150,000 Pakistanis will perform Haj next year and those who had applied for pilgrimage last year but were not accommodated will be selected this year without balloting. The air fare remains unchanged, but overall charges have been increased.

Announcing the new policy, Secretary Ministry of Religious Affairs Waheed Ahmed Khan said the ministry had banned 43 private companies which had not fulfilled the promises they had made to pilgrims in their agreements last year. He said 39 of the companies were Islamabad-based and the remaining were from Balochistan. Action would be taken to ensure that these firms did not register themselves again under a new name, he said.

The secretary said that like last year, the government would send 150,000 pilgrims in 2006, of them 60,000 would be sent under private Haj scheme compared to 54,000 sent under the scheme last year.

The computerized national identity card (CNIC) would be a mandatory requirement, he said.

Mr Khan said Haj group organizers would be registered for which advertisements were being published in the press. Private limited companies would be given preference and unless seats were left in private quota, no unlimited entities would be considered, he added.

The PIA will provide ‘Anwar-i-Haramain’ (for Shia pilgrims) and Ahram to men and gowns to all women pilgrims on complimentary basis.

Housing facilities would be in two categories — green and white. In view of Saudi authorities’ decision to increase the space for each pilgrim from 3 to 3.5 squares metres, the accommodation charges have been raised.

Saudi riyal 2,500 would be charged for the ‘green’ accommodation, which would be located at a distance of up to 800 metres from Haramain Sharifain.