High cost leads to poor response
Only 32,000 Bangladeshis have registered to perform hajj this year so far, against the country's quota of 1.27 lakh.
Due to the poor response, the government has extended the registration deadline for the second time to March 7, the religious affairs ministry said in a circular yesterday.
Earlier on February 22, the ministry extended the deadline till yesterday.
But in the last six days, only 13,860 intended hajis have registered, said sources at the hajj camp office.
As of yesterday, 7,415 people registered under the government's hajj-management scheme, while 24,588 signed up under private hajj agencies.
Top leaders of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) and Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) said despite the huge interest to perform hajj, fewer people registered due to the high cost of hajj packages this year.
The agencies and officials at Ashkona hajj camp now doubt whether Bangladesh will be able to meet the quota this year due to the high costs.
A Bangladeshi will have to spend at least Tk 6.83 lakh to perform hajj under government management, up by around Tk 1.61 lakh from the previous year. The minimum cost under private management has been fixed at Tk 6.72 lakh, about Tk 1.5 lakh more than that of the year before.
Apart from this, each pilgrim will have to pay about Tk 22,000 for a Qurbani coupon from the Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia. The amount is used for meeting the expenses for sacrificing animals.
This year, the hajj will be held on June 27, depending on the sighting of the moon.
Abdus Salam Aref, general secretary of ATAB, yesterday said a Bangladeshi pilgrim will have to spend around Tk 8 to 9 lakh on average to complete all formalities of hajj this year.
HAAB, a platform of around 1,500 private hajj agencies, said this year's airfare was high, for which the cost of hajj packages have increased significantly.
"The airfare of Biman was Tk 1.40 lakh last year. But this year, it is around Tk 2 lakh, which is very high," said HAAB President M Shahadat Hossain Taslim.
Sources at HAAB and ATAB said in India, the airfare is around Tk 1.25 lakh, and in Pakistan it is about Tk 1 lakh.
ATAB and HAAB leaders said due to the high prices, they are now worried whether the hajj agencies and government will be able to send the targeted 1.27 lakh Bangladeshis to Saudi Arabia.
ATAB's Aref asked if airfare of umrah can be around Tk 90,000, then why would hajj airfare be Tk 2 lakh?
"In most cases, intended hajis are saying that it is difficult to manage the additional money," Md Khorshed Alam, managing partner of Al-Madina Travel & Hajj Kafela, told The Daily Star yesterday.
HAAB leaders said people from villages used to perform hajj in large numbers.
"But as the cost of hajj packages has increased, village people in general can't afford to go," said Khorshed.
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