State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haq Khan said on Tuesday that the cost of Hajj package will be reduced a bit. “We requested the Saudi government to lessen the cost of hajj packages and an announcement will come from the government on Wednesday in this regard,” he said while addressing an ‘intra- religious dialogue’ at the collectorate conference room of the district. The Saudi government increased the cost by around Tk one lakh for each pilgrim as they added some new facilities for hajj pilgrims to the previous ones, he said. On February 1, the government fixed at Tk 6, 83,018 as hajj cost for each pilgrim which was around Tk 1.61 lakh more the past year. The increased hajj cost drew huge criticism as it is higher than that of the neighbouring countries . Of them, an amount of Tk 1, 97,797 was fixed as airfare for each passenger. Read more: No scope to reduce hajj flight fare this year: Biman MD The High Court on March 14 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 High Court 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. The HC asked the authorities concerned to take initiative to cut the hajj cost following a hearing on the writ petition on March 15. On March 17, the Ministry of Religious Affairs gave directives to the authorities concerned to rationally reduce the airfare of Biman. On March 19, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Managing Director Shafiul Azim said there is no scope to reduce the fare of hajj flights this year. 

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