STAFF REPORTER
Dhaka,Mar 5 -The Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) Today announced the Hajj packages keeping minimum cost at Tk 332,868 per pilgrim those who wanted to perform Hajj this year.HAAB Secretary General Shahadat Hossain Taslim announced the packages at a press briefing held at a city hotel.Besides, every pilgrim has to take additional money for sacrificial animals, he said, adding that the pilgrims should have completed registration process under private management by April 15 paying Tk 332,868 which plane fare is Tk 138,191.The registration process under the private hajj management will begin from March 6 and will continue till April 15 to deposit their money, Taslim said.According to ministry sources, the pilgrims who are interested to perform Hajj under government arrangement could deposit the money till March 11 after completion the registration process.The government has also approved a total of 774 Hajj agencies for sending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year.Action will be taken against Hajj agencies if they are found taking money less or more than the government-set packages, religious affairs ministry secretary Anisur Rahman told this correspondent.Religious Affairs Minister Motiur Rahman on March 1 said that the flights carrying Bangladeshi pilgrims to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj this year will begin from July 14.Earlier on February 26, the Cabinet has approved the drafts of the National Hajj and Umrah Policy 2018 and the Hajj Package 2018, fixing the minimum cost for a Hajj pilgrim under government arrangement at Tk331,359.A total of 127,198 pilgrims will perform Hajj this year from Bangladesh. Of them, 1,20,000 would go to Saudi Arabia under private management and 7,198 under the government arrangement.Meanwhile, the government has also opened a hotline – 09602666707 – at the Religious Affairs Ministry for making any complaint regarding Hajj management and fraudulence. It will remain open for providing information about Hajj.
