Staff Reporter :
Expenses of Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims under both the government and the private management have been hiked by Tk 59,000 more, as the government has further decided to increase the cost of performing hajj this year.
State Minister for Religious Affairs Ministry Md Faridul Haque Khan furnished the information in a press briefing at the secretariat on Thursday.
As per the decision, for package-1, an intended Haji will have to pay Tk 5,86,340 which was earlier Tk 5,27,340, while one will have to pay Tk5,21,150, which was earlier Tk 4,62,150 under package-2.
Apart from this cost, each hajj pilgrim will have to spend an additional amount of Tk 19,683 for Qurbani.
The State Minister said, “Decision to increase the expenses of Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims has been taken in the wake of rising expenses in Saudia Arabia as the Kingdom recently informed Bangladesh of the increased moallem fees and other expenses.”
According to the State Minister, the Hajj pilgrims will have to pay if any additional charges are imposed by the Saudi government after the announcement of the packages.
Faridul Huque Khan said the pilgrims will have to pay the money by May 30 in order to take part in Hajj this year. Advertisement will be published on May 28, 29 and 30 in order to receive the money. A letter has been sent to Bangladesh Bank to ask all the commercial banks to keep open on Saturday next.
Earlier on May 24, the Ministry of Religious Affairs said that the first hajj flight from Bangladesh slated to depart on May 31, was rescheduled for June 5.
The Ministry has also asked all the authorities concerned in Bangladesh to make necessary arrangements to begin the flights on the rescheduled date.
This year, a total of 57,856 pilgrims will perform Hajj, a ritual must for able-bodied and financially sound Muslims at least once in their lifetime, from Bangladesh.
In 2019, around 1.27 lakh Bangladeshis were allowed to perform hajj.
However, due to the global Covid pandemic, the largest annual Muslim congregation was held on a limited scale in the last two years.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia raised the number of Hajj pilgrims from inside and outside the kingdom to one million in 2022, authorities announced in a statement on April 9. Hajj is open to those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and are under the age of 65, added the statement. Pilgrims travelling from abroad will also need to have a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before their departure to Saudi Arabia.
The national flag carrier Biman will carry 31,000 hajj pilgrims through 75 dedicated flights this year. Boeing 777 aircrafts in Biman’s fleet will be used to carry the hajj pilgrims.
