By SAEED HAMEED
MUMBAI : How governments are playing in the name of welfare of waqf and waqf properties can be understood by the fact that during last 42 years , the Central government provided grants of hardly Rs.53 Crores to Central Waqf Council for the implementation of scheme for the development of urban Waqf properties .
This scheme to develop the Urban Waqf properties and use the profit and benefit accruing from such development to the state Waqf Boards and Muslim community was formulated in 1974-1975 by the Central government .
The objective of the scheme was to improve the financial assets and positions of state Waqf Boards .The other objective of the scheme as formulated in 1974-1975 was to protect vacant Waqf lands in Urban areas from being encroached.
The objective of the scheme also boasted of developing economically viable projects on Urban Waqf properties for generation of more income and widening of welfare activities of State Waqf Boards.
This scheme was named as “Development Of Urban Waqf Land Sccheme “ .Now the Monitory Affairs ministry government of India just translated the name of this scheme into Hindi and adopted the scheme for the current financial year .
The financial grant of Rs. 2 Crores has been allocated for this scheme which is presumed to be implemented on national level .The yearly grant which has been provided by Minority Affairs Ministry to CWC to implement such commercial development of Urban Waqf properties at national level is a big joke .
But such joke has been played to the Muslim community for the last 42 years .
It may be surprising that during last 42 years only a small amount of Rs.53 Crores was provided to CWC to develop 143 Urban Waqf Properties Development projects and these grants were called as interest free loans , which was to be returned to CWC after completion of projects .
Average financial help to each project under this scheme during last 42 years is
approximately Rs.37 lakhs only .Such a paltry amount was provided to construct Commercial Complexes , marriage Halls , Shopping Arcades on vacant Urban Waqf lands to save them from encroachment and to generate sufficient income to State Waqf Boards .
If such objectives are considered and implementation of these schemes are analysed , it can be said that this scheme miserably failed to achieve these objectives in the past 42 years for the following reasons :
Almost all vacant Urban Waqf lands have been encroached by Waqf land Mafia in all Urban areas of the country during last 42 years .
Almost all State Waqf Boards are financially in a very dilapidated condition and such scheme could not accrue benefits to them and failed to make them financially sound .
So a flop scheme is being renamed ans being implemented again by the Central government which is a questionabale act .
Further an in depth inquiry and study is needed into this scheme .There is also need of complete overhauling as this scheme has failed in its purposes.
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