The Cost of Hajj Increased with the Announcement of New Packages

For Hajj this year, 2 packages were finalised officially and 1 privately. Based on their declared prices, the cost of Hajj will exceed more than 1 lac for the pilgrims.

The Hajj package was finalized at a meeting of the Secretariat’s Hajj Management Committee on Wednesday (May 11). At the end of the meeting Faridul Haque Khan, the State Minister for Religion, briefed the journalists about the Hajj packages.

In his briefing, he mentions that it will cost Tk. 527,380 (TK. 102,340 higher than the previous price) for package-1 and Tk.462,150 (TK. 102,150 higher than the previous price) for Package-2, to go to Hajj officially. And for the private Hajj package, the price is estimated to be Tk. 456,630.

Due to the worldwide pandemic restrictions, Bengali pilgrims were unable to perform Hajj. The last time was in 2019, even though Hajj packages were announced in 2020.

The State Minister for Religious Affairs said that the holy Hajj will be held in Saudi Arabia on July 8 this year subject to the sighting of the moon. According to the bilateral Hajj agreement 

As Hajj will be held in Saudi Arabia on July 8 this year subject to the sighting of the moon, the State Minister for Religious Affairs said that based on the bilateral Hajj agreement 4,000 pilgrims officially and 53,585 pilgrims privately will be able to travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year. 57,585 pilgrims from Bangladesh in total. 

Two packages for government management and one package for private management agencies have been proposed for Hajj in 2022 after calculating the airfare for pilgrims, house rent in Saudi Arabia, service charges, Mu’allim fees, Zamzam water, food costs, and other fees.

He stated that the Saudi government had delayed announcing the Hajj due to the pandemic and had not yet made any statement regarding the actual cost per capita. So the proposed packages have been approved at a meeting of the Executive Committee on Hajj Management after estimating the potential costs.

The State Minister added that another possible cause for the rise of the cost of Hajj may be that in 2020 the rate of each Saudi Riyal was Tk. 23 and now it is Tk. 24.30. In addition, 15% VAT and service charge tax have been included in all sectors in Saudi Arabia. House rent and the service charges of The National Tawafa Establishment for South Asian Pilgrims have also increased.

This year there is no 3rd package. The pilgrims registered in any of the three packages of 2020 can transfer their package by registering and selecting either package-1 or package-2 announced for 2022.

In this case, the bank will immediately confirm the money receipt of the package transfer in the e-Hajj system of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. After the money receipt has been confirmed the pilgrim will receive a unique Pilgrim Id from the e-Hajj system. 

He further added that if any quota is vacant, then in order to meet the remaining quota, Based on the pre-registration order pilgrims can complete their registration through government management within the time limit prescribed by the Hajj director. And if someone fails to transfer their Hajj Package from 2020 to 2022 or is unable to go to Hajj then their registration will be cancelled and they will be fully refunded.