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| Guv's Rule raises hope of transparency in Wakf Board | | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, July 13: The Governor's Rule has raised a hope that there will be transparency into the management of Wakf Board and that there won't be any political influence in its functioning.
Formed to take care of the properties belonging to mosques and shrines across J&K, the Wakf Board has failed to meet the objective for which it was established decades ago. The Wakf Board, second largest asset-rich body in the state, has been politicized over decades and its prized assets have been misused for vested political interests by some political families of the state.
An employee of Wakf Board said that there has always been a political influence into its functioning. "When ever any party forms government, it appoints own people including its vice-chairman and other office bearers. We hope there is now transparency into its functioning," the official said.
The official said that there should be a probe into the appointments made over the years. "Every party has been appointing own people. There are grave allegations of misappropriation of funds. We hope Governor and other authorities look into the matter," another official said.
The official said political parties appoint own people to run its affairs. "They operated these properties as it belongs to them and used it for their political interests," the official said.
"Most of the employees working here are affiliated with one or the other party. There is a tag that all employees are NC loyalists that is not the true, some have been appointed as per the eligibility. An audit should be conducted to know what is the exact number of employees and the backdoor appointments," the official said.
A committee constituted by the government in 2012 had claimed that illiterate workforce was messing up the Board's operation. The panel revealed that majority of employees working in the institution were either under-matric or illiterate. Out of the total strength of 382 permanent employees, the report claimed, only 34 were graduates, 23 have studied up to 12th standard and 76 have passed 10th standard.
According to official sources, presently around 1000 employees (permanent and contractual) are working in the Wakf Board.
Most of the famous shrines under control of the Board are in shambles. The infrastructure constructed for devotees is in bad shape. The main income source has been donations instead of revenue from the property.
The Muslim Auqaf Trust was supposed to make productive investments so that revenue accrued from it could have been used for the uplift of the J&K Muslims by creating the infrastructure in health and education sector.
The Muslim Auqaf Trust now known as Wakf Board, is about 76-year-old institution. It controls, manages and supervises the assets belonging to the Muslim community of J&K. It was established in 1940 by the National Conference founder Sheikh Abdullah.
The Wakf Board has immovable assets worth Rs 2000 crore. It owns around 170 buildings, 1500 shops, 1400 rooms, over 30 showrooms, 86 sets, 50 halls, besides dozens of other assets.
A large number of revenue also comes from donations from the devotees who visit different shrines of the state. |
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