Government to amend Wakf law to usher in more transparency, gender diversity
government is all set to bring a Bill in Parliament to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf boards to ensure more accountability and transparency in their functioning and mandatory inclusion of women in these bodies, sources said. They claimed that the move comes in the backdrop of demands from within the Muslim community.
The Bill to amend the Wakf Act, 1995, will make it mandatory for Waqf boards to register their properties with district collectors to ensure their actual valuation. There are 30 Waqf boards in the country.
The sources on Sunday pointed out that the revenue generated by all Waqf properties is estimated at Rs 200 crore per annum. This is not in sync with the number of properties such bodies have, they said.
Originally, Waqf boards had around 52,000 properties throughout India. By 2009, there were 3,00,000 registered Waqf properties covering four lakh acres of land, and as on date, there are 8,72,292 such properties in more than eight lakh acres of land.
While referring to the revenue generated by such bodies, the sources underlined that the money can only be used for the welfare of the Muslim community and for no other purpose.
The amendment Bill with as many as 40 changes in the current law could be brought in the ongoing Parliament session. The government, as of now, does not plan to leave the Bill pending in Parliament after introduction, the sources said.
The key changes proposed in the law include ensuring verification of land before a board announces it as a Waqf property.
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