Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus has ordered the launch of ‘Hajj Management Center’ to make the holy pilgrimage easy, beautiful and safe and to provide round-the-clock service to pilgrims.
He gave this instruction at a meeting of the National Committee on Hajj Management at the State Guest House Jamuna on Tuesday (February 25) at 5 pm.
The Chief Adviser said, ‘Allah Almighty has given us all an opportunity to make the holy pilgrimage easy; let us make the most of this opportunity. Efforts should be made so 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 agencies registering pilgrims and 70 are lead agencies.
The Chief Adviser ordered to clearly write down the responsibilities of these agencies and publish them in the form of a booklet and online.
The Chief Adviser said, ‘The government’s responsibility is to ensure that the agencies perform their duties properly, and take strict action if they do not perform their duties. 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, 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 received at 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 adviser 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 next year.'
At the same time, the chief adviser 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. It should be monitored whether the agencies have training or not. 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 adviser has instructed to create 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 adviser has 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 Adviser Dr. AFM Khalid Hossain was present at the meeting.
