Wakf land: Submit ATR on Shaikh panel report, says Chavan

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan asked senior officials today to submit an action taken report (ATR) on the findings of the Shaikh Commission which probed Wakf Board land dealings between 2002 and 2006.
"The chief minister today directed that an ATR be submitted soon, after discussions with the chief secretary, revenue, as well as law and judiciary department officials," an official said.
The chief minister suggested that an elaborate action taken report on each recommendation of the Shaikh panel report be prepared, he said.
There should be computerisation of information on Wakf Board properties in the state, Chavan said. If needed, help could be sought from a reputed company in the infotech sector, he said.

Maharashtra Minorities Development Minister Naseem Khan said that more than 500 acres of Wakf Board land in the state have been freed of encroachments.
The Maharashtra government had instituted a judicial commission under former judge A Shaikh five years ago to probe illegal Wakf Boad land dealings between 2002 and 2006, after allegations by the opposition in the state legislature.
There were allegations that a lot of Wakf Board land was sold in this period for pecuniary benefits by bureaucrats and politicians. The report was submitted to the government in 2011.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Vinod Tawde said former BJP president Nitin Gadkari had raised the issue of irregularities of Wakf Board land in the Legislative Council in 2007.