– Mohammed Atherulla Shariff
Bidar, June 25: With the word Wakf what obviously comes to mind is a lot of hassles, complications and problems. To shun this image and resolve the issues one by one, the Karnataka Board of Wakf has come out with a novel idea of conducting Wakf Adalat at district level across the state. First such Wakf Adalat was held in Bidar on Monday.
State Minister for Housing, Minority Affairs and Wakf, Zameer Ahmed Khan inaugurated and conducted the first Adalat. There were 178 petitions pertaining to different issues. Fifty of them were seeking enhancement in the grants, 20 related to approval of khata of the burial ground, 11 applications to conduct survey of wakf lands, and 18 applications to vacate illegal occupations.
Zameer Khan said there are 2747 Wakf institutions and 3822 Wakf properties spread over 13,295 acres in Bidar district of which only 275 acres are in possession of the Board and the rest are entangled with litigations in various courts. Most of these are under illegal occupations and severe steps would be taken to recover and restore to the Board, he said.
The minister further informed that within a week after the announcement of Wakf Adalat, Municipal khatas of 67 properties were perfected. He would be holding a meeting with the District Commissioner on Tuesday in order to get the khata approval of 20 more properties, he said. Other complicated issues would be resolved within a month’s time, he added.
Explaining the overall conditions, Zameer Ahmed said thousands of acres of Wakf properties are under illegal occupations across the state. When asked by journalists what action was taken on the report submitted before the State Assembly by the former Chairman of the State Wakf Board, Anwar Marpadi regarding the illegal occupations of the Wakf properties, Zameer Ahmed said, since he took over the charge, 386 acres of Wakf land was recovered from the unauthorized occupants. Continued efforts are there to recover the rest, he added.
The Board intends to establish educational institutions and hospitals in the recovered properties in future. Constructing uniform type of boundary walls has been made compulsory in order to protect Wakf properties from encroachments, said the Wakf minister.
Speaking on the occasion, the state Wakf Board Chairman Anwar Pasha said Zameer Ahmed Khan is much concerned about protection and development of the Wakf properties. The Board has a plan to establish a women’s college in every district on the Wakf land. Bidar will also have one such institution, he said. The Wakf Minister has got additional grants sanctioned from the Chief Minister which would be utilized to provide an ambulance and a freezer to keep the dead bodies in each taluka.
The lawmaker from Bidar and minister of Municipal Administration and Hajj Rahim Khan, member of legislative council Abdul Jabbar, District Wakf Advisory Committee President Firoze Khan, director of Minority Directorate Dr. Jeelani Mokashi and others were also present in the Wakf Adalat programme.
