Minorities Affairs minister K Rahman Khan today said that his ministry was in the process of bringing out a standalone law to protect Waqf properties across the country from encroachment.
Admitting to negligence in the holding of surveys of Waqf properties in the various states, Rahman said that was the reason why only a tiny fraction of such properties had been registered.
Stressing on the need for corrective action, Rahman said that towards that end, his ministry was working on the Waqf Property (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants), Act.
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"Such a law would prevent encroachment, alienation and unauthorised occupation of Waqf property and allow for better management so that the income generated through these may be utilised for the benefit of the community," he said.
He was speaking at the national meet of state ministers in charge of Waqf properties and chairpersons of state Waqf boards on the implementation of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2013.
"There are states where Waqf boards are functioning well, but there are many where there have been no surveys. In Assam, (the number of) registered Waqf properties is only 165... Is it possible to find such a small amount of registered properties in Assam? Around 8,000 properties have been earmarked for when we hold a fresh survey," Rahman said.
"Bihar has only 2,000 registered Waqf properties, but I think there should be 40,000 to 50,000 such properties there. There has been some negligence by us on surveys, overseeing and monitoring," he added.
He also expressed hope that the Public Premises Act, which the Union cabinet is to take up tomorrow, would be cleared as it is going to be a standalone legislation that classifies Waqf property as public premises.
