The government has again extended the registration deadline for hajj until April 5 in a bid to fulfill the registration quota.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs issued a notice on Thursday announcing the decision.

According to the circular, the serial number of the registration under both government and private management is still open and both the managements have created a new pre-registration facility for the pilgrims. 

The server for the registration will automatically be stopped once the registration quota is finished, it added.

On January 9, the government signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia over hajj.

According to the agreement, 15,000 people will be able to go to hajj under government management while 112,198 can go under private management.

Of these, 9,935 and 108,351 pilgrims have already registered under government and private management system respectively.

This year, 70 percent Bangladeshi pilgrims will go through Jeddah Airport while the rest 30 percent will go through Madinah Airport.

Meanwhile, the government reduced the cost of hajj packages under both public and private managements by Tk11,725 as Saudi Arabia has reduced a service charge for the intending pilgrims worldwide.

Pilgrims who will perform hajj under the government management have to pay Tk 6, 71,290 each to perform hajj this year after deduction of Tk 11,725.

Besides, those who will go under private management have to pay Tk 6, 60,893 each after deduction of the amount.