3,500 hajj quota will return to Saudi Arabia this year: State Minister
UNB, Dhaka :
State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haque Khan said the quota of 3,500 hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh will return to Saudi Arabia this year.
He said the failure to fulfill the quota will not affect the upcoming hajj.
The state minister made the remarks while addressing the journalists during an inauguration ceremony of the “E-Hajj Mobile App” and the publication of “Hajj o Umrah Sahayika.”
A total of 120,491 Bangladeshi pilgrims were registered to perform this year’s hajj, more than 6,000 short of the quota provided by the Saudi government.
According to the ministry, the quota of 3,500 will remain vacant, excluding those involved in Hajj management.
The state minister said: “The registration time for Hajj will not be extended further. The remaining quotas will go back to Saudi Arabia. It will no longer be fulfilled.”
“Last year, we asked the Saudi government for an additional quota of 2,415 people. It doesn’t matter if we can’t fulfill the quota this year. After Hajj, you can compare the numbers with other countries.”
The state minister hoped that the number of Bangladeshi pilgrims in this year’s hajj would be the highest in terms of percentage.
This year’s hajj will be held on June 27 (9 Zilhaj), subject to the sighting of the moon. According to an agreement with Saudi Arabia, 127,198 people from Bangladesh can perform hajj this time.
Of these, 15,000 pilgrims were to get the opportunity to perform Hajj under government management, and the remaining 1,12,198 under private management.
The registration of Hajj started on February 8. After that, the registration time was extended eight times, but the quota was not fulfilled.
Finally, an opportunity was given to register on Tuesday (April 25) in the ninth phase. However, it remained unfulfilled.
M Shahadat Hossain, president of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB), said failure to fulfill the quota will not affect the number of quotas provided by the Saudi government for next year’s hajj.
“I think many countries of the world will return their quota of pilgrims this time. Pakistan and Indonesia, among others, will return the quota this year. I don’t think reverting quotas is a serious issue,” he said.
The first hajj flight will begin on May 21.
On reducing the cost of hajj registration, the State Minister for Religious Affairs said: “Next year, we will consider whether to reduce the cost by renting hotels a little far away.”
He said the main objective of the Ministry of Religious Affairs is to ensure maximum facilities to the pilgrims, adding that the ministry has released the e-Hajj mobile app and Hajj and Umrah Guide covering hajj and other religious issues for the pilgrims and the stakeholders involved in the management.
“This is an excellent initiative in the field of smart hajj management,” state minister Faridul Haque said.
The state minister said: “The e-Hajj mobile app has been launched on a trial basis today. Initially, pre-registration and pre-registration refund applications have been arranged through this system. In addition, information from the Ministry of Religious Affairs has been included here. As a result, pilgrims will be able to make vouchers at home through this mobile app.”