Ministry officials said at a press conference on Tuesday that 101,750 people would be sent to Saudi Arabia this year for Hajj as per Bangladesh’s quota.

Of them, 10,000 will go on government packages and the rest on private arrangements.

Religious Affairs Minister Matior Rahaman requested the additional 30,000 people wishing to perform Hajj to ‘keep patience’.

He requested the agencies to give priority to these people failing to perform the ritual this year during next year’s Hajj.

Of them, nearly 10,000 have already deposited their money and the remaining 20,000 applied for Hajj registration through private agencies.

Ministry Deputy Secretary Md Faizur Rahman Faruqui said total 111,012 people had deposited money for Hajj, though only 91,908 were registered.

Among the depositors, 9,254 are being barred by quota restrictions.

The ministry’s Secretary Chowdhury Md Babul Hassan said it was the first time for the number of depositors to exceed Bangladesh’s Hajj quota.

Asked about the reason, he said, “Every registration was supposed to have been displayed immediately on the website. But that did not happen as the software had not been developed.”

Flights to take Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia will start from Aug 16 and carry them until Sept 18.

Return flights bringing pilgrims back home will start from Sept 27 and continue until Oct 28.