Survey of Wakf properties to be Completed in 6 months -Qamarul
Mangaluru: Qamarul Islam, the state Minorities Welfare and Wakf minister, on Friday held a press meet at the Circuit House here, on May 20. Qamarul spoke about the various schemes initiated by the government for minorities and the funds released.
He said that the state’s Minority Welfare Board was found to be the top among others in the country due to the number of activities and schemes initiated by it. “All our schemes have also been completely made online, from selection to fund disbursement. We have given scholarships to students ranging all age groups and have sent 360 students to 9 countries in the past 3 years. We have also organised training for exams like IAS, IPS, etc,” he said.
When questioned about Anwar Manippadi’s report on the Wakf property scam, Qamar replied that what Manippadi submitted to the then government was technically a recommendation rather than a report. “Nobody is above the law. The process of surveys of Wakf properties in the state is being conducted. Through this survey, we will get to know how the properties came into the possession of the current owners, whether there were illegal methods used for obtaining them and through whom the transfers were approved. The survey that was first done in 1964 by Wakf officials was invalid as it had been conducted without the presence of officials of the Revenue Department by Wakf officials themselves.”
“The government has been conducting the survey of the properties according to the Wakf (Amendment) Act (2013). The properties included in the old gazette would be surveyed and the deputy commissioners of each district would be responsible for getting the surveys done. The survey in this district has already been completed. 685 properties have been surveyed covering 330.29 acres in 5 taluks; no encroachments were found among these properties. In Karnataka, the Wakf Board possesses 2 lakh acres in 34,000 properties and the entire survey is estimated to be completed within the next six months.”
He also said that many people including government officials had encroached upon these properties and that the Wakf Board could not evict them without conducting a proper survey.
