Staff Reporter :
Severe irregularities were detected in the Pre-registration system of Hajj this year, claimed about 500 Hajj Agency owners. The Religious Ministry and IT firm Business Automation’s were allegedly involved with this unfairness, source said. They demanded fresh pre-registration immediately.
However, the Hajj agents and the pilgrims, who had enrolled their names, demanded interference of the Prime Minister to send all pre-registered pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for performing Hajj this year.
They raised the demand on Sunday in separate press conferences held at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity Auditorium in Segunbagicha in the capital.
The HAAB (Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh) Coordination Council, an electoral body of the Hajj agents, and the ‘Bangladesh Pilgrims and Hajji Welfare Council (BPHWC)’ separately orgnaised the press conferences to press their demands.
Former HAAB President Jamal Uddin Ahmed, HAAB Coordination Council Convener Habibur Rahman Mizan and Member Secretary Rezaul Karim Uzzal placed their demands on behalf of their organizations while Hajji Welfare Council President Abdullah Al Naser placed his demands seperately.
Jamal Uddin Ahmed said that the Hajj agencies completed pre-registration of their pilgrims within three working days as per the instruction of the government. More than 55,000 extra pilgrims registered their names this year against a total of 1,27,198 quota allocated for Bangladesh.
As the Hajj agents completed pre-registration within its stipulated time, the government should try to send all of the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for performing Hajj this year. Considering the situation, it should surrender the rest of government management pilgrim quota to private sector to avert hazards at final stage, he added.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Pilgrims and Hajji Welfare Council President Abdullah Al Naser said around 1,37,207 new pilgrims pre-registered under private sector this year. Adding 37,495 extra pilgrims of last year, the number of private pre-registered pilgrims stands at 1,74,702.
But 57,500 private pilgrims may miss Hajj this year, he feared. The government, especially the Prime Minister, should take steps soon for sending all of the pre-registered pilgrims to Hajj. If the Prime Minister takes initiative now, all of the Bangladeshi pre-registered pilgrims will be able to perform Hajj this year, Naser hoped.
According to their statements, the Saudi government has allocated a quota of 1,27,100 pilgrims for Bangladesh this year following its provision to allocate quota considering the country’s population. The quota was only 1,01,758 last year.
According to the Hajj Office statement, a total of 1,74,702 pilgrims have pre-registered under private arrangement to perform hajj this year while 2,500 pilgrims only have registered for government in last one and half a month against its quota for 10,000 pilgrims.
Among the private pilgrims, 37,495 pre-registered last year as extra pilgrims. They had missed chance to perform Hajj last year due to shortage of quota while, the government had to surrender its quota of 4,800 persons due to shortage of pilgrims.
Earlier on January 30, the Cabinet has approved two Hajj packages – Tk 3.19 lakh and Tk 3.81 lakh – for 2017 increasing the amount of Tk 14,000 to Tk 21,000.
