Hyderabad: The Telangana Wakf Board will soon get judicial powers to initiate action against land grabbers. Participating in a debate on minority issues in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said that the state government will introduce a Bill to give judicial powers to the Wakf Board in the Legislature in the budget session next month.
“A huge extent of Wakf lands have been encroached upon in the city and districts during the undivided AP government. Several land cases have been lying pending for years. Due to the lack of judicial powers, the Wakf Board is not in a position to initiate action against land grabbers or resume lands. We will soon give judicial powers to Wakf Board,” Mr Rao said.
Mr Rao has also announced a slew of sops to the Muslim community.
The Chief Minister said that he would take up the issue with the Central government over conducting the NEET exam in Urdu along with other Indian languages and will write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard in a day or two.
He promised to handover all vacant Wakf lands to the Wakf Board that were allotted to various MNCs by governments in undivided AP. He also announced an increase in honorarium for imams and mauzams to Rs 1,500 per month from present Rs 1,000. He said the government will bear the cost of all self-financing cou-rses in minority degree colleges and promised to build a world-class Islamic Centre in Hitech City.
