Religious Affairs Minister Faridul Haque Khan on Tuesday told Parliament that the government officers and employees are sent to Saudi Arabia for hajj management and providing services to the Bangladeshi pilgrims, not for performing hajj. “The government officers/employees are sent to Saudi Arabia under various teams to discharge the duties for hajj management and providing services to hajj pilgrims……They are not sent to perform hajj at the cost of government funds,” he said. The minister said this replying to a question from independent lawmaker Mohammad Saiful Islam (Dhaka-19) during the question-answer session in the House. Stop loan default culture to save economy: Anisul Islam Mahmud He said medical centers and clinics are run to provide medical services to Bangladeshi hajj pilgrims. He said the government officials or employees (Hajj delegation team, Hajj administrative team, Hajj medical team, Hajj technical team and Hajj administrative support team) are sent to Saudi Arabia for the purpose of serving the Hajj pilgrims in Mina-Arafat-Muzdalifah-Jamarah, Makkah and Madinah The Religious Affairs Minister said the government team members render proper medical and other services to Bangladeshi pilgrims including elderly ones  hailing from the very remote places of Bangladesh. World Radio Day: Betar playing role in country's development, says Arafat “Actions are also taken against them if they (government officers/employees) neglect their duties,” he said. Saiful Islam in his question said every year government officials/employees go for hajj with government money. The government fund or money is the public money. He asked the minister if the performance of hajj spending other people's money will be valid and how much the officials/employees serve the pilgrims there. Responding to a question from independent lawmaker Moshiur Rahman Mollah Shajal, the Religious Affairs Minister said despite the government’s desire it was not possible to reduce the cost of hajj as the value of Saudi Riyal went high due to the rise of the dollar rate. He said Bangladesh is the fourth largest hajj pilgrim sending country in the world. In 2024, the quota of hajj pilgrims for Bangladesh is 127, 198, he said adding a normal hajj package of Tk 578, 840 has been announced for the year, reducing the package by Tk 92,450 from 2023 so that people from all walks of life can go to perform the hajj. 98 percent of the country's demand for medicine is produced locally: Health Minister In reply to another question from independent lawmaker Mohiuddin Maharaj (Pirojpur-2), the Religious Affairs Minister said there are some 300,000 mosques in the country. Noting that the number of imams and muezzins of these mosques is some seven lakhs, Faridul Haque said in the current economic context, it is not possible to provide allowance to this large manpower now. This matter will be considered in future, he said.

State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan on Sunday said a total of 1.27 lakh Bangladeshis will be able to perform hajj this year. “The quota for hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh this year is 1, 27, 198,” he said in reply to a tabled question from ruling Awami League MP elected from Chattogram M Abdul Latif. In a scripted answer, the state minister said the quota for hajj pilgrims for Bangladesh was 58,628 in 2009, which was increased to around 1.27 lakh in 2019. Also Read: Over 1.27 lakh Bangladeshis likely to perform Hajj this year, Deal with KSA on Jan 9   He also said due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the quota for Bangladeshis was deceased to 60,146 pilgrims in 2022 like other countries in the world. Faridul Haque Khan said overall the quota for hajj pilgrims has increased by 148% from 2009 to 2023 which is a big milestone of the success of the current government.