Ministry Directs Authorities to Grant 45 Days Leave for Hajj Pilgrims

The Ministry of Religion has directed the hiring authorities to grant 45 days leave to the employees who have made a final decision to go for Hajj this year.

Recently, a directive has been issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

It states that a pilgrim needs 42-45 days of leave for Hajj. For that reason, if the employee gives less time off to a pilgrim, it will cause complications in the air ticket management and the pilgrim will also face problems. So 45 days’ leave should be granted to pilgrims.

In the letter signed by the Deputy Secretary of the Hajj Division of the Ministry of Religion, Abul Kashem Muhammad Shaheen, it is said that in 2023, 1 lakh 22 thousand 221 pilgrims from Bangladesh will go for the holy Hajj. Hajj flights will start from May 20. The Royal Saudi Government's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Saudia Airlines and Flinus Airlines, have granted permission for the transportation of Hajj pilgrims for such a large number of pilgrims from Bangladesh to and from Saudi Arabia.

The Hajj flight schedule is prepared based on the aircraft capacity of these 3 airlines, the number of Hajj pilgrims and the slots allocated in favor of Bangladesh at the Jeddah and Madinah International Airports. Pilgrims are scheduled for their Hajj tour according to the Hajj flight schedule.

As a result, a pilgrim needs 42 to 45 days of leave for Hajj. For that reason, if the employee gives less time off to a pilgrim, it will cause complications in the air ticket management and the pilgrim will also face problems.

Therefore, taking into consideration the reality of Hajj journey, all the concerned parties are requested to grant at least 45 days leave in favor of working Hajj pilgrims.

According to the sources of the Ministry of Religion, one lakh 27 thousand 198 people from Bangladesh are going to perform Hajj this year. For that purpose, the final registration started from last February 8. Due to non-fulfillment of the quota, the registration period has been extended nine times.

Till the last day of last May 2, 10 thousand 39 people have registered out of the 15 thousand quota set in government management and 1 lakh nine thousand 447 people have registered out of 1 lakh 12 thousand in private management. In other words, a total of one lakh 19 thousand 486 people have registered in both government and private categories.