Hajj 2017: Lowest package Tk 3.19 lakh
The Hajj pilgrims this year will have to register their names through online from February 19 paying a minimum cost which is a bit higher than the last year under private management.
The minimum rate of the Hajj packages is Tk 3,19,355 per pilgrim, Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) President Mohammad Ibrahim Bahar said at a press conference at a hotel in Dhaka.
Also READ: Hajj to be costlier this year
The devaluation of taka against Saudi Arabian Riyal and US dollar and hike in the house rent in the Middle Eastern country are among the reasons behind the rising cost this year, according to Bangladesh government.
This year, 117,198 Bangladeshis will perform Hajj under the private management while the number under the government management would be 10,000.
Bahar said that the maximum rate for Hajj will be determined in a consultation between the applicant and the concerned agency.
If any applicant fails to pay the full cost and collect pilgrim ID by March 30, he or she will not be able to perform Hajj this year, he added.
Citing a Supreme Court verdict that allowed hajj pilgrims to choose any airline for hajj journey, Bahar said there will be no suffering of pilgrims and ticket syndicating will be stopped if the government implements the court verdict.
He also warned that licences of Hajj agencies will be cancelled if they are found involved in human trafficking in the name of Hajj and Umrah.
The pilgrims under the private management would have to pay for qurbani (sacrificing animals) through the coupons of Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia.
"No one will be allowed to buy sacrificial animals directly as the bank itself will be making the arrangements," Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said on January 30.
The pilgrims under both the government and the private arrangements must rent houses on “common spaces” in Makkah and Madina, he added.
Govt Hajj packages
There would be two government-offered Hajj packages.
Under the first package, a pilgrim would have to pay Tk 3.81 lakh, up from Tk 3.60 last year. Under the second package, the amount would be Tk 3.19 lakh from previous year’s Tk 3.05 lakh.
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