Govt proposes hajj package: Pilgrims to pay Tk 1 lakh more

The government has proposed Tk 4,56,530 hajj package this year under private management -- around Tk 94,730 more than that of 2020.

It set Tk 4,62,150 for hajj package under government management, which is Tk 1,02,150 more than that of 2020.

Apart from this cost, each hajj pilgrim will have to spend an additional Tk 19,683 for Qurbani.

State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haque Khan announced the hajj packages after a meeting of the executive committee on hajj management at the Secretariat.

The Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (Haab), a platform of private hajj tour operators, will formally announce its hajj package rate at a press conference at a Dhaka hotel on Thursday (May 12), the association said in a press release.

This year, a total of 57,585 Bangladeshis will perform hajj, a ritual must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime.

In 2019, around 1.27 lakh Bangladeshis were allowed to perform hajj.

However, due to the global Covid pandemic, the largest annual Muslim congregation was held on a limited scale in the last two years.