Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus has ordered round-the-clock service to pilgrims by launching the ‘Hajj Management Center’ to make the Hajj journey easy, beautiful and safe.
He gave this instruction at the meeting of the National Committee on Hajj Management at the State Guest House Jamuna today (Tuesday, February 25, 2025) at 5 pm.
The Chief Advisor said, ‘Allah Almighty has given us all an opportunity to make the holy Hajj easier; let us make the most of this opportunity. Efforts should be made to ensure that not a single pilgrim suffers any kind of suffering.’
The number of licensed Hajj agencies in the country is 1,275. Out of these, 941 are agencies eligible for Hajj activities, 753 are Hajj registration agencies and 70 are lead agencies.
The Chief Advisor ordered to clearly write down the responsibilities of these agencies and publish them in the form of a booklet and online.
The Chief Advisor said, “The government’s responsibility is to ensure that the agencies fulfill their responsibilities properly, and take strict action if they do not fulfill their responsibilities. The entire Hajj process should be simple and clear. What is the government’s responsibility, what is the agency’s responsibility – these should be clearly written.”
“There should be clear guidelines on what to do if someone gets lost, falls ill, loses luggage or has any other problem, who to inform. This booklet should be given to each Hajj pilgrim. It should also mention what steps will be taken with greater importance in the case of women and children,” he said.
He said that a Hajj Management Center should be established in the country so that services can be ensured through round-the-clock monitoring from Bangladesh.
“The complaints that come to the call center should be monitored immediately from here. A website should be made where all Hajj pilgrims will be connected. They can report their complaints; if someone gets lost, their location can be found through that website,’ he said.
The chief advisor has ordered the call center to monitor the types of complaints coming in to decide on future action plans.
He said, ‘The types of complaints coming in should be recorded. There should be information on how many of them have been resolved and how many have not. We should discuss and take appropriate steps so that these complaints do not come up next year.’
At the same time, the chief advisor has ordered that if any agency fails to fulfill its responsibilities, its license should be cancelled.
‘The agencies should be reviewed based on the experience of the pilgrims. Whether the agencies have training or not should be monitored. The agencies should be categorized into ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ based on the training of the staff. The licenses of the agencies that fail to meet the standards of this category will be cancelled,’ he said.
The chief advisor has ordered the creation of topic-based videos so that the pilgrims can be aware of what to do in any situation and so that no one gets confused.
He said, “It should be a problem-solving video. If the pilgrims are shown videos on what to do if they get sick, get lost, or have any problems while offering the sacrifice, they will gain morale. They will be able to be prepared.”
In addition, the chief advisor suggested introducing Hajj credit cards from next year and copying and listing the tags for luggage management.
He said, “If the Hajj credit cards are introduced, the suffering of the pilgrims will be reduced. After returning home, the money left on the card will be refunded in cash. Incidents of luggage loss often occur. That is why the tag can be copied after check-in. There will be a list of luggage tags at the management center.”
This year, 5,200 people have registered for Hajj under government management and 81,900 people under private management. The government has decided not to send anyone to Hajj at government expense this year.
Religious Advisor Dr. AFM Khalid Hossain was present at today’s meeting.
In addition, the secretaries of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Public Administration, Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Ministry of Finance, Health Services Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, and the Principal Secretary to the Chief Advisor, along with other concerned officials, were present.
