Staff Reporter :
The Cabinet on Monday approved a proposal for amendments to the National Hajj and Umrah Policy-2016 (Hijri 1437) and Hajj Package 2016 (Hijri 1437) by doubling the number of hajj pilgrims to 10,000 under government management.
However, under the revised policy and hajj package, the number of hajj pilgrims under private management this year would be reduced by 17,110. The approval came from the regular weekly cabinet meeting held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said the policy and the hajj package were amended following the Saudi government decision. “With the amendment to the hajj policy and package, the total number of hajj pilgrims to be sent from Bangladesh will be reduced by 12,110,” he said.
As per the amended policy and package, he said, a total of 101,758 pilgrims will perform hajj from Bangladesh this year. The number was 1,13,868 in the earlier policy and package. Under the revised package, he said, some 10,000 pilgrims would perform hajj from Bangladesh under the government management instead of 5,000, while 91,758 pilgrims would perform Hajj under the private management instead of 1,08,868. Under the revised Hajj policy and package, the Cabinet Secretary said, each Hajj pilgrim would have to make his or her all payments, including house rent, transport and catering electronically (e-payment) while the payment for Qurbani will have to be made through online system of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
The pilgrims will have to collect a ‘token’ for ‘Qurbani’ (sacrificing animal), he said, adding that no one will be allowed this year to make ‘Qurbani’ under the personal arrangement. Shafiul Alam said every hajj agency will have to carry at least 150 pilgrims instead of 50 while there will be three ‘Muallem’ in every Hajj flight for 419 hajj pilgrims. He added that each hajj pilgrim will also have to pay 150 Saudi Riyals as ‘water cooler charge’ to be adjusted from their additional service charges of 1000 Riyals.
An arrangement for ‘water cooling system’ will be there to reduce sufferings of hajj pilgrims as many of them fell sick due to severe heat during hajj, he explained.
The Cabinet Secretary said the first quarterly (January-March) report of 2016 on the decisions taken in the cabinet meeting during the period was placed before the cabinet yesterday which showed that from January 1 to March 31 this year, some 13 cabinet meetings took place where some 79 decisions were undertaken.
Out of those decisions, some 49 decisions were implemented with a success rate of 62.03 percent while some 30 decisions are under implementation which is 37.97 percent of the overall decisions.
Ministers and State Ministers, and secretaries concerned attended the meeting.
