No decision has been taken yet to reduce the price of Hajj packages, said Motiul Islam, additional secretary to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Bangladesh today (March 16, 2023). “We are yet to receive a copy of the court's order. If there is a new decision, I will tell you later,” he told reporters at the ministry. The registration for Hajj under the existing packages is ending today, he said adding that the intending pilgrims have to deposit money in banks within this time. It has not yet been decided whether the registration time will be extended, said Motiul. Read More: High Court questions hike in price of performing hajj As of March 15, 9,569 people have registered for Hajj under government management and 91,246 under private management. There are still 25,480 empty quota for registration, he said. The High Court on Wednesday asked Attorney General AM Amin Uddin to take initiative to reduce the Hajj package cost. The HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Ali gave the order after hearing the Ministry of Religion's explanation regarding the high Hajj cost this year. Read More: Govt raises hajj cost by Tk 1.61 lakh this year On Tuesday the court questioned how common people will perform hajj at the cost of the package set by the government. It questioned “Why doesn't the government allocate budgets for the hajj like other countries in the world?” The HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Ali came up with this observation while hearing a writ petition over revising the hajj package offered by the government this year. Earlier on February 1, the Ministry of Religious Affairs announced the hajj package for 2023 in a memorandum. According to the package, a person has to pay a hefty amount of Tk 6.83 lakh to perform hajj this year - up from Tk 5.22 lakh in 2022. Read More: Preparations taken as hajj pilgrims don’t face trouble for dollar crisis: State Minister

The cost for performing hajj under government management has increased by Tk 1.61 lakh this year as it has been fixed at Tk 6,83,018 for each pilgrim against last year’s Tk 5,21,15. The decision was taken at a meeting of the executive committee on hajj management with State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan in the chair on Wednesday. Talking to reporters the minister said last year, the government announced two hajj packages for hajj—Package-1 at Tk 5,86,340 and package-2 at Tk 5,21,150--- but his year only one package has been announced. The private hajj agencies will fix their packages in coordination with the government packages and it will be announced on Thursday, he said. Under private management, the pilgrims paid minimum Tk 5,22,744 for performing hajj last year. About the raising the hajj package cost, the minister said this year one Riyal is available at Tk 30 which was Tk 21 last year. Also read: Over 1.27 lakh Bangladeshis likely to perform Hajj this year, Deal with KSA on Jan 9 Faridul said this year the government has fixed the plane fare at Tk 1, 97,797 and the price has been increased due to global economic crisis. Last year, the plane fare was Tk 1.40 lakh. Like the previous year, three airlines –Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Saudia Airlines and National Airlines will carry the hajj pilgrims, he said. Hajj-2023 will be held on 9th day of Zilhaj (June 28) depending on moon sighting. The government signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia over hajj on January 9. According to the agreement, 15,000 people will be able to go to Hajj under government management while 1,12,198 can go under private management. Biman Bangladesh Airlines will carry 50 percent passengers while Saudia Airlines will carry 50 percent passengers. Besides, the age limit for Hajj pilgrims during the pandemic has been lifted by the Saudi government – paving the way for people over 65 to go for the significant pilgrimage. According to the ‘Route to Mecca initiative’ deal, all hajj pilgrims will complete their pre-arrival immigration in Dhaka. In case of Covid vulnerable situation, the Saudi authorities can take a decision about the number of the pilgrimage. This year, 70 percent Bangladeshi pilgrims will go through Jeddah Airport while the rest 30 percent will go through Madinah airport. In 2019, a total of 1,27, 198 pilgrims performed hajj from Bangladesh. Read More: 1918 pilgrims perform hajj at government's cost since 2014: State Minister

Pilgrims will have to spend more to perform hajj this year as the minimum cost under government management has been fixed at Tk 4,62, 150, raising the expense by Tk 1,02,150 compared to 2020 . Under government management, Tk 5,27,340 lakh has been fixed as the maximum cost (Package -1), Tk 1,02,340 more than 2020, said State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan while talking to reporters after attending a meeting on hajj on Wednesday. Also read: Hajj pilgrims must submit Covid-negative report before journey Besides, the minimum cost under private management has been fixed at Tk 4,56,530 and the private hajj agencies can announce more than one package after keeping consistency with the government packages. This year, the government has announced only two packages but in 2020, it announced three packages and under Hajj Packages-3 the minimum cost was fixed at Tk 3.15 lakh.  The pilgrims who intend to perform hajj this year can choose their packages from these two packages, said the minister. Explaining the reason behind the costlier hajj packages, Faridul said in 2020 the exchange rate of Saudi Riyal was Tk 23 and in 2022 it increased to Tk 24.30 and this is the main behind hike in the cost. Those who completed their registration in 2020 have to finalise their registration in 2022 again under the new packages and if the intending pilgrims fail to get registered in time their registration will be cancelled and they will get their money back following due process, he added.