New Delhi, Apr 3: Highlighting transparency and accountability as corner stones of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Leader of Rajya Sabha and Union Minister J.P. Nadda on Thursday said that over the decades, 5,970 government properties had been declared as Waqf assets through misuse of the existing law.

Speaking during the debate on the Bill, J.P. Nadda said it was a matter of concern and discussion for all, above party lines, on how government properties, including lakes, became Waqf properties.

Citing data collected from 25 states and Union Territories till September 2024, the Union Minister said that out of the 108 properties controlled by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and 130 under the Delhi Development Authority, 123 properties had been declared in the public domain as Waqf properties – a fact that reflects gross misuse of Waqf provisions.

Sharing data on the alleged conversion of public properties into Waqf assets in Karnataka, the Leader of the House said between 1975 and 2020, 40 government properties, including lakes, farmland and temples, were declared as Waqf properties.

He clarified that the new Bill guards the interests of tribals by stipulating that properties in areas covered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution - dealing with tribal zones in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram - cannot be declared as Waqf properties.

According to a government note, Waqf Boards currently control 8.7 lakh properties spanning 9.4 lakh acres across India with an estimated value of 1.2 lakh crores. India has the largest Waqf holding in the world. Further, Waqf Board is the largest landowner in India after the Armed Forces and the Indian Railways.

There are 3,56,051 Waqf Estates registered under the Waqf Board. A total of 8,72,328 immovable properties are registered under the Waqf Board and there are 16,713 movable properties registered under the Waqf Board. The Board has 3,30,000 digitised records so far.

On cases pending with the Waqf Administration, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has analysed functioning of Tribunals and found that there are 40,951 cases lying pending, out of which 9,942 cases were filed by the Muslims community against the institutions managing Waqf.

Moreover, there is an inordinate delay in the disposal of cases and no provision for judicial oversight provided on tribunal decisions, it said.

--IANS

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