Records of Wakf lands go missing

Hyderabad: Bifurcation has brought out the actual state of affairs in the Andhra Pradesh State Wakf Board as dealing with the record of properties of actual land is proving to be a Herculean task.

Even as special officer  Shaikh Mohammed Iqbal takes an account of the situation, the actual numbers remain shrouded. The Wakf institutions have mosques, dargahs, graveyards, chillas, ashoorkhanas and takias under them. The caretakers of these places have not given proper feedback on the encroachments and also the utilisation of the land.

A senior officer explained, “This exercise has shown that the Board was working in isolation. It didn’t take the help of the collector, revenue department and the police to check on the lands and take stock of the ground reality. We now find that 75 per cent of the records are missing. There is no mention of the encroachments. Neither has there been any action.”

The Board requires at least 1,000 personnel, including a team of legal experts, chartered accountants and also  information technology professionals to place proper systems in place. But, presently, the haywire process has reduced it to shambles.

Special officer Iqbal said, “The problems lie within. The Board has been managed by the community only and there has been no outsider to question the decisions of a few. In this, the larger goal of the community has not been served. The state has the largest tracts of land but there is little accountability of it.”

Due to the tough stand taken by Mr Iqbal, some groups of young Muslims have come out on social media to support him. Zia Husam, a member of the group, explained, “We are finally getting honest inputs of what is ailing the Wakf Board. For long, the benefits have failed to reach the really needy people in the community. We want Mr Iqbal’s term to be extended so that he can work towards bringing about a transparent system. We are requesting the Governor to look into the issue.”