Dhaka, March 21 -- State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haq Khan said on Tuesday that the cost of Hajj package will be reduced a bit.

"We requested the Saudi government to lessen the cost of hajj packages and an announcement will come from the government on Wednesday in this regard," he said while addressing an 'intra- religious dialogue' at the collectorate conference room of the district.

The Saudi government increased the cost by around Tk one lakh for each pilgrim as they added some new facilities for hajj pilgrims to the previous ones, he said.

On February 1, the government fixed at Tk 6, 83,018 as hajj cost for each pilgrim which was around Tk 161,000 more the past year.

The increased hajj cost drew huge criticism as it ...