A total of 1,27,198 pilgrims will perform holy Hajj this year as the cabinet yesterday approved the drafts of the "National Hajj and Umrah Policy-2017" and the "Hajj Package- 2017", BSS reports.  
The approval was given in the weekly meeting of the cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam briefed reporters after the meeting.
Under the Hajj Package-2017, he said, a total of 1,17,198 pilgrims would perform Hajj in private management, while the number under government management would be 10,000.
In the first package of the government arrangement, a pilgrim would cost Tk 3,81,508 and in the second package the cost will be Tk 3,19,355. The minimum cost for a pilgrim who would perform Hajj under private arrangement has been fixed at Taka 1,56,537.
The cabinet secretary said all pilgrims will have to carry machine readable passports for performing Hajj this year.