Sunday, February 10, 2019

Pilgrims will be required to spend Tk24,645 more this year, the total adding up to a minimum of Tk3,44,000 this year, to  perform Hajj under private management, said cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam.

The cabinet approved drafts of the ‘National Hajj and Umrah Policy-2019’ and the ‘Hajj Package-2019’ at a regular meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday.

The cost for Hajj package-1 has been set at Tk4,18,500 and package-2 at Tk3,44,000 this year, said Shafiul Alam while briefing the media after the meeting.

Last year, the cost of package-1 was Tk397,929 and of package-2 was Tk319,355.

This means the price of the government’s Hajj package-1 rose by Tk20,571 while that of package-2 rose by Tk24,645 this year.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaks at a cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office in Dhaka on Monday, February 11, 2019 | PID

A total of 1,27,198 pilgrims will perform Hajj this year. Of them, 1,20,000 pilgrims will go under Hajj packages offered by the private management, and 7,198 under government management, Cabinet Secretary Shafiul said.

The airfare has been fixed at Tk1,28,000 this year which is by more than Tk10,000 less than last year, he added.

Cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said Hajj will be performed on August 10.

Those performing Hajj must have the Machine Readable Passports (MRP) valid till February 10, 2020.

Those performing Hajj for the second time or more will have to pay 2100 Saudi Arabian Riyals extra.

An agency can send a minimum 150 to a maximum 300 Hajj pilgrims with each of the flights having three Moallems. To perform Qurbani, 5,525 Saudi Arabian Riyals will have to be paid to the Islami Development Bank.

As per the Hajj and Umrah policy 2019 approved by the cabinet, all the pilgrims willing to perform Hajj and Umrah must be financially solvent, and both physically and mentally fit.

Under the previous policy pilgrims had provisions to complete renting of a house by seventh Ramadan. The new policy says the accommodation procedures have to be completed before Ramadan, said cabinet secretary.

All payments including house rent should be paid online while airfare via direct pay order. 

A paper mentioning address of the house to be rented for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims will be pasted on the last page of the passport.

Anyone below 18 years of age and willing to perform Hajj should submit the birth certificate.

Although there were provisions to have a guide with every 45 passengers, this time, it has been reduced to one guide for every 44 passengers as the Saudi buses cannot carry over 45 people in a vehicle.

Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/government-affairs/2019/02/11/minimum-cost-of-hajj-tk344-000