Online Desk: The Religious Affairs Ministry on Tuesday opened its server for one day for hajj registration as per the special request of the hajj pilgrims and Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh. Those who failed to complete their registration for going hajj this year will avail the opportunity, said a notice issued by the Religious Affairs Ministry on April 20.

According to the notice, the serial number of the registration under both government and private management was opened for today and both the managements have the opportunity to create a new pre-registration facility for the pilgrims. The server will be closed automatically once the registration quota is fulfilled, it said. This will be the last time and there will be no extension for registration.

On March 30, the government extended the registration deadline for hajj until April 5 in a bid to fulfill the registration quota. On January 9, the government signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia over hajj. According to the agreement, 15,000 people will be able to go to hajj under government management while 112,198 can go under private management.

Of these, 9,935 and 108,351 pilgrims have already registered under the government and the private management system respectively. This year, 70 percent Bangladeshi pilgrims will go through Jeddah Airport while the rest 30 percent will go through Madinah Airport.

Meanwhile, the government reduced the cost of hajj packages under both public and private managements by Tk11,725 as Saudi Arabia has reduced a service charge for the intending pilgrims worldwide.

Pilgrims who will perform hajj under the government management have to pay Tk 6, 71,290 each to perform hajj this year after deduction of Tk 11,725. Besides, those who will go under private management have to pay Tk 6, 60,893 each after deduction of the amount.