Hajj agency owners have sought the Prime Minister’s intervention to send more pilgrims this year, as the Saudi government has already allocated to Bangladesh an additional quota of 11,000 pilgrims.
They, however, claimed that the government and some leaders of the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) are not sincere about getting the additional quota.  
They made the plea while exchanging views with journalists at the HAAB Coordination Council’s Motijheel office yesterday.
Council convener Ruhul Amin Mintu, Hajj Umrah Agencies Welfare Association convener Jamal Uddin Ahmed and HAAB Coordination Council member-secretary Rezaul Karim Uzzal, leader Kamal Hossain and other senior Hajj agency owners were present. At present, Bangladesh has a quota of 1,01,758 pilgrims. If the extra quota of 11,000 pilgrims is added, it will increase to 1,12,758, according to the council leaders.
They said the Saudi government has agreed to allocate an additional quota of 11,000 pilgrims to Bangladesh from the unused quota of Iran and Pakistan. But the government here has set a condition that the process of sending pilgrims cleared earlier would have to be completed first.
Officials of the religious affairs ministry and HAAB leaders have not accepted the additional quota as they want to avoid mismanagement and irregularities in the light of the High Court order. They have to follow the court order, they said, and for that, they would have to send only the pilgrims registered earlier. But some of the HAAB leaders want to send unregistered persons to traffic human beings in the name of Hajj, they alleged.