Dhaka: The Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) has announced a new package for the pilgrims who will perform hajj this year, under private management. The minimum rate of the Hajj package is Tk 230,000 per person.

After an emergency general meeting, Mohammad Ibrahim Bahar, president of the association, announced this private management packages at a press conference Monday.

Ibrahim Bahar said that the government has announced that 75,000 pilgrims will be making the journey to Saudi Arabia this year, majority of them (around 60,000) going under private management and the rest under government’s scheme.

He also pointed out that all agencies will be allowed to announce two packages, with one being the Tk 230,000 package and another according to the agency’s differentiated services.

The HAAB president outlined a set of demands at the press conference, aimed at ‘easing the tribulations’ of the pilgrims.

He also urged the government to renew the licenses of 62 agencies, which were cancelled during the military-backed caretaker government’s rule under state of emergency.

BDST: 1830, April 19, 2010