The religious affairs ministry has urged leaders of the Hajj Agencies’ Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) to submit its proposal on trolley bags for pilgrims in writing. The leaders have decided not to take the responsibility of buying trolley bags, as there was a major controversy over the issue last year.
The ministry will take a final decision—whether the task will be handed over to the agencies or not—after getting the HAAB’s proposal in writing, a ministry source told The Independent. In principle, the ministry is ready to buy trolley bags for pilgrims, the source added.
It is most likely that the ministry itself will buy the bags, as giving the responsibility to the agencies could create chaos. It is felt that some agencies might procure poor-quality bags again, while some may not buy at all. As a result, pilgrims would have to suffer, said a ministry official, preferring anonymity. Religious affairs ministry secretary Abdul Jalil told this correspondent yesterday that they had a meeting with newly elected
HAAB leaders at the ministry on Monday. “The new HAAB president, Abdus Sobhan Bhuiyan Hasan, told us that they won’t buy trolley bags this year, though it’s their responsibility as per the existing Hajj policy,” he said.
The HAAB leaders proposed that the ministry hand over the responsibility to Hajj agents, Jalil said, adding that the ministry asked them to submit written proposals.
“Further decision will be taken after their proposals are received,” he said.
Senior officials of the ministry said it will not be possible for the ministry to hand over bag procurement to the agencies as that would create chaos. Pilgrims will be deprived of getting quality trolley bags in time. At the same time, some would not get any despite having paid Tk. 2,500 for a trolley bag, the officials added.
“The ministry wants to ensure high-quality trolley bags for all pilgrims. It has invited e-tender for buying bags for government-managed pilgrims. If necessary, it’ll float a tender for buying trolley bags for private pilgrims, for which the Hajj Policy would have to be amended. It’ll place a proposal in this regard before the Cabinet soon,” one official said.
Meanwhile, the newly elected executive committee of the Hajj Agencies’ Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) has decided that it will have nothing to do with procuring trolley bags for private pilgrims, as there has been unnecessary controversy over the issue.
Instead, the apex body of Hajj agents will give the trolley bag money, deposited in the government’s account, back to the agencies, so that they can buy bags of their choice for their pilgrims, according to sources.
The HAAB has requested the religious affairs ministry to transfer the money to its account. The association will give the money to the agencies for buying trolley bags, sources in the HAAB and the ministry told this correspondent.
When asked, the newly-elected HAAB president, Abdus Sobhan Bhuiyan Hasan, told The Independent that they are not interested in getting trolley bags as they want to steer clear of irregularities.
In the previous years, there were allegations against HAAB leaders that sub-standard trolley bags had been bought for the pilgrims. Keeping this in mind, panels contesting the HAAB elections on April 20 had given their commitment not to buy bags in future under HAAB’s management.
“The money will be returned to the agencies for buying the bags themselves as per our electoral promise. The HAAB will only supply government-specified samples of bags to them. They will buy the bags, and no one will be able to raise questions about quality and price,” Hasan said.
Hasan, elected HAAB president on April 30 by the executive committee members, said they have written to the secretary of the religious affairs ministry to send the money back to the HAAB account soon. As soon as the money is transferred, it will be handed over to the agencies and they can start procuring the bags.
He hoped that the money would be given back to them within a week or two.
Although the pilgrims’ quota allocated for the government this year was 10,000, it failed to fulfil it as most of the pilgrims are not interested in performing Hajj under government management. They want to perform Hajj under private arrangement because it is less expensive.
The government has fixed the minimum Hajj package at Tk. 3,19,355 for Bangladeshi pilgrims, but most of the private agencies are taking less.  The government allocated a quota of 117,198 pilgrims for the private agencies. However, the number of pre-registered private pilgrims has increased to around 1.90 lakh this year. The rest of the pilgrims will get priority for performing Hajj  next year.
However, if the government surrenders its vacuum quota for the private agencies, the pre-registered private pilgrims will also get priority here, according to the ministry.
A section of government officials and bag traders apprehended mismanagement regarding trolley bags while talking to this correspondent. They claimed that it would not be possible for the agencies to buy a large number of bags in such a short time. Also, the quality of bags cannot be ensured if they are bought by the agencies.