Wakf Board in limbo

By J.S. Ifthekhar

HYDERABAD, AUG. 5. The reconstitution of the State Wakf Board has become a jigsaw puzzle - the pieces refusing to fall in place. Thanks to Government apathy and indifference, the Board remains headless more than a month after completion of its term. Though five members have been elected to the new Board in the first week of June, the Government is yet to nominate the remaining four. And thereby hangs a tale.

As the administration of the Board, with Wakf properties worth over Rs.6,000 crores, slips into the hands of bureaucrats, fears of financial mismanagement and fraudulent dealings are being voiced from different quarters. There are even reports of some important files missing from the Board's office, though the outgoing chairman, Syed Yousuf Ali, stoutly refuses.

The inordinate delay in reconstitution of the Board, which completed its term on June 27, remains a mystery. Under the elected category, five members are chosen - Messrs. K.M. Saifullah (MP), Asaduddin Owaisi (MLA), Syed Akbar Nizamuddin, K.M. Safiullah (Mutwalli) and Naushad Ali (advocate). Now, under the nomination category, the Government has to choose four persons of impeccable integrity and competence. Under the Wakf Act of 1995, when an elected Board completes its term a new Board has to take over and there is no provision for officials to run the administration, it is said.

According to sources, some names have been shortlisted for nomination and the Intelligence Department has also given the go ahead. All that remains to be done is for the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, to affix his signature. The electoral code of conduct now in force is stated to be the reason for the Chief Minister not signing the file. First, it was the code for the panchayat raj poll that delayed matters.

When the election process was over, Mr. Naidu got preoccupied with election of ZPTC and MPTC chairpersons and hence could not find time for clearing the Wakf file. Now, the notification for gram panchayat elections has been issued and yet another code of conduct has come into force. Poll to the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad also looms large with the High Court asking the Government to complete the process within 90 days.

For the same reason, the inauguration of the Haj House also hangs fire. The 11-storeyed Haj House edifice at Nampally is almost ready, but there is no sign of its opening. Though the Wakf Board has recommended for an early inauguration, the State Government is treading cautiously as it does not want to get embroiled in any legal snarls.

``It is not proper to keep the Wakf Board in a state of limbo. Any delay in reconstitution of the Board might result in financial irregularities,'' says Mr. Asaduddin Owaisi, the newly elected Wakf Board member.

Worried about yet another long spell of delay, the Department of Minorities Welfare is stated to have sought legal opinion from the Advocate-General and the Law Secretary.

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Section  : Southern States
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