Pre-registration by pilgrims for this year’s hajj will start in the first week of March next, says acting secretary to the Religious Affairs Ministry Abdul Jalil.
Abdul Jalil said the software development for the registration has already been completed.
The staff who will be supervising the process will undergo training, which will be inaugurated by Religious Affairs Minister Principal Motiur Rahman on Thursday, reports the UNB.He added that the pilgrims would have to pay Tk 30,000 for the pre-registration process, both for the government and privately-managed pilgrims.
They will then have to pay the remaining amount by May 30 to complete their registration process.Pilgrims under government management will have to pay Tk 3,60,000 for performing this year’s hajj or Tk 3,04,903 for performing without any sacrificial animal.
According to the recent agreement between the governments of Bangladesh and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), a total of 1,01,758 pilgrims will be able to perform hajj from Bangladesh this year, out of which 10,000 will be government-managed and the rest will be through private arrangements.
This was agreed upon in a bilateral agreement on a ministerial level signed on February 14.According to the conditions outlined in the agreement, acting secretary said one moallem must carry not less than fifty hajj pilgrims.Besides, the pilgrims interested in performing Qurbani will have to deposit their money at any Islamic Development Bank branch in Saudi Arabia.
For Bangladesh Hajj agencies, their minimum quota for accommodating them is 150 pilgrims per agency.A second deal was signed on February 15 on Tawafa Establishment for South Asian pilgrims, who will look after the lodging, food and transportation services for pilgrims in Makkah.On February 17, a third agreement was signed on the Adillah Establishment in Madina, which will offer regular bus services for pilgrims back and forth from hajj premises.
Since construction works for the upcoming hajj is still going on, the Saudi government is taking 20 percent less pilgrims than from previous years.For Bangladesh, it was 1,25,000 but this year it came down to 1,01,758.
Religious Affairs Minister Motiur Rahman urged his Saudi counterpart informally to allow more pilgrims for Bangladesh, at least 5000 more, for which they requested a formal application from his ministry.
Secretary Jalil informed that the draft of the application is complete and will be sent soon.This year’s hajj will tentatively be held on September 9, or 8 Zilhajj according to the Arabic calendar.
Source : samakal
