No land given to Waqf board by Centre since 2019, govt tells in Rajya Sabha

No land has been provided by the Central government to the Waqf Board since 2019, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry told Rajya Sabha on Monday.

In a written reply to a question about the total area of land provided to the Waqf Board by the Central and state governments from 2019 till date, MoS Tokhan Sahu said land is a state subject and hence, no data of land provided by the state governments is available with the ministry.

He, however, said as far as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is concerned, no land has been provided to the Waqf Board by the Government of India since 2019.

In August, the government introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and referred it to a joint parliamentary committee after a heated debate. The government asserted the proposed law did not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques while the opposition called it targeting of Muslims and an attack on the Constitution.

Last week, Jagdambika Pal, the chairman of the joint parliamentary committee, said the panel has written to state governments, seeking details of the disputed Waqf properties within their jurisdiction.

Pal said this after a meeting of the panel on December 5. The meeting was the first after the panel was granted an extension of tenure till the last week of next year's Budget Session.