First Hajj flight on May 21

Staff Reporter :
The government has decided not to extend Hajj registration period further for this season, leaving nearly 7,000 quotas vacant out of 1,27,198 allocated for Bangladesh this year after failing to fulfil by extending the period for ninth consecutive times.

While inaugurating mobile app ‘e-Hajj BD’ and unveiling ‘Hajj and Umrah Guide’ in the Religious Affairs Ministry meeting room on Wednesday, State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haque Khan said the government has taken the decision as first Hajj flight with Bangladeshi pilgrims to begin from May 21.

Faridul Haque said, “Even if the quota is not fulfilled within Wednesday, Hajj registration will not be extended further.”

Rejecting the demand of the Hajj agencies and pilgrims to reduce Hajj package fees, the State Minister said, “It’s not possible to reduce the cost of Hajj package. It was fixed calculating all expenditures in home and Saudi Arabia.”

He said that all the preparations are being completed keeping around 7,000 quota vacant. Of the quota, some Hajj relevant persons including Muajjems, Hajj guides, Hajj management officials, physicians and employees would travel the country during the Hajj period under the quota. Finally, around 3,000 quota would remain vacant, which would be not a problem.”

Hajj registration ended on Wednesday (April 26) by extending the ninth phase. There is no time left for starting Hajj management by completing all procedures. Therefore, even if the quota is not fulfilled, the Hajj registration time is not increasing this year further, he claimed.

Faridul Haque said the economic condition of all Muslim countries has affected due to the global economic recession and the Ukraine-Russia war. As a result, number of pilgrims from Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and India has also decreased. In that case, number of pilgrims in Bangladesh is better than other countries. Still, as the financial capacity of the people of Bangladesh is good and about 120,000 Hajj pilgrims have completed their final registration, he added.

Stating about ‘e-Hajj BD’ app and Hajj and Umrah Guide, the State Minister said from now on, all Hajj and Umrah services including Hajj registration will be available on e-Hajj mobile app. It has been launched to facilitate all Hajj and Umrah activities from home through this app.

Faridul Haque said the app was developed for free. The Business Automation Limited, a company that offers all types of e-services for Hajj, developed it free of charge. All the information of this app will be in the Ministry.

According to the agreement between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, a total of 1.27 lakh Bangladeshi nationals will get the opportunity to perform hajj this year.
However, a total of 120,491 Bangladeshis completed registration till Wednesday, according to the information available in the website of the Religious Affairs Ministry.
Of the total, 15,000 people will perform hajj under the government hajj management while 1.12 lakh under the private hajj management.