Hajj package-2018 approved in cabinet

FT ONLINE

A total of 1,27,198 pilgrims would perform holy Hajj from Bangladesh this year as the cabinet on Monday approved the drafts of the "National Hajj and Umrah Policy-2018" and the "Hajj Package- 2018".

The approval was given in the weekly meeting of the cabinet held at the Prime Minister's Office with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said this while briefing reporters at Bangladesh Secretariat in the afternoon.

7,891 pilgrims will perform the Hajj under the government arrangement while 1,20,000 under private arrangement, Cabinet Secretary M Shafiul Alam said to media.

According to the draft of Hajj packages, each private agency can take 50 to 300 persons to Saudi Arabia. And an aircraft can carry the pilgrims of three Hajj agencies and three Moallems.

The minimum cost of the first Hajj package (under government arrangement) will be this year Tk 3,97,929 for each person while the minimum cost of the second Hajj package (under government arrangement) will be Tk 3,31,359 for each person.

Under the private arrangement, the minimum cost will be this year Tk 3.31 lakh.

The cabinet secretary said all pilgrims will have to carry machine readable passports for performing Hajj this year.

The pilgrims under the private management will have to pay money for qurbani (sacrificing animal) through the coupon of Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia.

The cabinet secretary said every person willing to perform Hajj will have to make pre-registration through online, which would be synchronised with the central NID database.

Later, they will have to complete registration process to get pilgrim ID, he said, adding that the registration would remain valid for two years.

Alam mentioned that police verification for the Hajj pilgrims would not be required as such process was done during issuance of passports.

He said the expatriate Bangladeshis could make pre-registration using their passports instead of NID.

The cabinet secretary said that once the registration is completed, registered pilgrims could not be replaced by others.

However, he said, replacement could be made in case of death or complicated ailment of any registered pilgrim, and added that it could not be more than four percent of the registered ones.

About the increase of air fare, Religious Affairs Secretary Anisur Rahman said the fare has been increased following the rise of jet fuel price, devaluation of taka against dollar and for some other reasons.