Amid a row over the survey of unrecognised private madrassas in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government is gearing up for a survey of waqf properties in the state.
The UP government is planning to take back the government and public property that has gone to the waqf over the years.
An order was issued by the Secretary of the Minority Welfare Department and sent to commissioners and District Magistrates across districts, seeking details of such properties in their respective regions. A time limit of one month has been given to officials to prepare this report.
The state government has struck down a previous order by the government passed in 1989, which paved the way for transferring those public properties to the Waqf Board that was left barren or non-agricultural land or were being used by a shrine, Qabristan or an Eidgah.
After thirty years, many of these properties are of high value and can be used better.
Currently, there are two Waqf boards in existence- the Sunni Waqf Board and Shia Waqf Board. According to the data from the National Waqf Management System of India, the country has over 6 lakh waqf properties. UP alone is estimated to have around 1.5 lakh Sunni and over 12,000 Shia Waqf properties.
West Bengal and Kerala also have a significant share of Waqf properties. Recently, a PIL was filed in Delhi High Court challenging the Waqf Act in a secular country.
The order comes following the UP government’s order to survey of all unrecognised private madrassas operating in the state. According to the order, issued on August 31, teams have been asked to complete the survey by October 15 and submit the report to the government in 10 days thereafter.
At present, about 16,000 private madrassas are operating in the state, including the world-famous Nadwatul Ulama and Darul Uloom Deoband. After the government’s decision, several madrassa operators expressed apprehensions about the survey.
Read all the Latest News India and Breaking News here
Comments
0 comment