Dhaka: The pre-registration of interested hajj pilgrims for the year of 2017 under the government management began on Sunday, said Religious Affairs Minister Principal Motiur Rahman.

The Religious Affairs Minister came up with the information while talking to reporters after inaugurating the online service at his office.

Principal Motiur Rahman said an agreement over the number of Hajj pilgrims will be signed with the Saudi Government next month.

This year, the government has published a list of 964 hajj agencies this year and the intending pilgrims can pay their registration fees through 25 banks selected by the government, said the Minister.

Last year, a total of 1,40, 994 people completed their registration for performing hajj and of them 1,01,829 pilgrims went to Saudi Arabia for performing their hajj, said Motiur.

The rest, those who failed to go to Saudi Arabia for performing hajj even after completing their pre-registration in 2016 due to quota system will be able to perform hajj this year, he said.

The Minister also said this year an IT expert team from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) was formed to monitor the technical division for making the process transparent and error-free.