76,000 hajj quota vacant despite two times extension

Staff Reporter :
The last day of registration for Hajj-2023 is today. Despite two times extension, about 76,000 Hajj quotas remained vacant.
Ministry of Religious Affairs source said, according the bilateral treaty with Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, Bangladesh would be able to sent 1, 27, 198 pilgrims to perform hajj in 2023. But till February 6 update, about 50, 778 devote registered for performing Hajj this year.
A Bangladeshi will have to spend at least Tk 6.83 lakh to perform hajj under government management this year, up by around Tk 1.61 lakh from the previous year. The minimum cost for performing hajj under private management has been fixed at Tk 6.72 lakh this year, about Tk 1.5 lakh more than that of the previous year.
Apart from this, each pilgrim will have to pay about Tk 22,000 for a Qurbani coupon from the Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia. The amount is used for meeting the expenses for sacrificing animals.
As per the ministry of Religious Affairs pre-registration system, about 2, 49, 224 devote completed pre-registration to perform hajj in 2023. Of them, 8,391 were pre-registered under government hajj management and 2, 40, 833 pilgrims under private.
During pre-registration a devote pilgrim paid Tk30, 000 (refundable). Rest of money has to pay during final registration.
Till February 6, about 50,778 pilgrims have completed final registration. Of them, 8,610 registered under government management and 42, 168 under private management.
Ministry of Religious Affairs source said, there is only one day remaining for registration. Within one day completion of 76,000 registrations impossible.
Source further said, there is a possibility of further seven days extension.
Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) senior Vice-president Moulana Yeakub Sarafati said, it happened several time in previous years that there was no devote for hajj registration. When four/five days remained for registration, then interested people rushed for registration and our hajj quota fulfilled. He also hoped that this year also the hajj quota will fill up in due time.