There is No response to Hajj registration
The Saudi government has set a quota of 127,000 people for Hajj next year (2025). After that, the initial registration started in the country from September 1. The call to finalize the registration by October 23 has not received much response.
According to the information of the Hajj management portal as of 5:30 p.m. yesterday, only 8,334 people have registered so far. Among them 2 thousand 555 people through government and 5 thousand 779 people through private. Apart from this, not a single pilgrim has registered in the country’s 124 agencies associated with Hajj management. According to the conditions, the ministry can take administrative action against these agencies.
Those concerned are skeptical about fulfilling the quota of pilgrims from Bangladesh next year. Hajj expenditure package may be announced this week. It is expected that registrations may increase after the announcement of the package. When asked why the pilgrims are so reluctant to register, the officials of the two agencies said that there has been a political change. Again, people have less cash now, many people have no speed in business. Apart from this, the interim government has been saying from the beginning that it will try to reduce the cost of Hajj. So many people are waiting for registration knowing how much package is announced.
Dr. After the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus took over, there was a demand to reduce the cost of Hajj. Religion advisor is working for that purpose. A F M Khalid Hossain. He also spoke with the Bangladesh Aviation Authority to reduce costs. After that he went to Saudi Arabia and spoke with the representatives of the country. Officials of the Ministry of Religion said that the foreign expenditure in the country is now being reviewed.
Regarding the preparation and cost of Hajj, the adviser of the Ministry of Religious Affairs AFM Khalid Hossain said that a cost-effective package will be officially announced on October 30. Calculations are underway for this purpose. The Ministry has already discussed with the Secretary of Aviation, MD and Director of Biman. A discussion was also held with NBR Chairman. The Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority (BABIC) was also spoken to.
The religious advisor said that there was a very fruitful discussion. We haven’t done the final calculations yet. Biman has agreed to cut costs in principle. Apart from this, the tax to be paid for the use of NBR and Dhaka Airport is being considered. Hajj agencies receive an amount on Hajj tickets. We all want to make the Hajj package people-friendly, reduce it, so I request them not to take that amount. The cost of Hajj will be reduced in everyone’s consideration.
Regarding the registration, the adviser said, if we prioritized it by the 23rd, we could have guessed how many of us there would be. In that case we could define the zones in Saudi Arabia. We have enough time till 30th November to register.
It is known that the Hajj visa process will start on February 19 next year. And Hajj flights will start in May. However, those who are interested have pre-registered by paying 30 thousand rupees. Now initial registration has to be done by depositing 3 lakh rupees. Last year, in 2024, the Ministry of Religion gave the opportunity to Haj pilgrims with a minimum package of Tk 590,000 per head. In 2023, this cost was a minimum of 6 lakh 83 thousand taka per passenger; Which is a record. As a result, the pilgrims did not get the desired response in the last two years. As the cost of Hajj increased, many people became interested in going for Umrah.
The Ministry of Religion has sent a letter to the agencies that have received permission to conduct Hajj activities for next year. The letter mentions that the Ministry of Religion published a list of 891 Hajj agencies for the year 1446/2025 Hijri. The condition of 1(j) of published list is as follows-If any agency in the published list does not register Haj pilgrims during Hajj 2025 season without reasonable cause, administrative action will be taken against that agency.
It also said that the preliminary registration for Hajj 2025 has started from September 1. But among the Hajj agencies published in the approved list, 124 Hajj agencies do not have any pre-registered/pre-registered Hajj pilgrims. In this situation, 124 Haj agencies are requested to speedily pre-register/pre-register Haj pilgrims.
Do Follow: greenbanglaonline24
Credit: Dainikamadersomoy
