Wakf Board aims at over Rs 100 Cr revenues

Hyderabad, Jan 15 : Wakf Board Special Officer Shaik Mohammad Iqbal on Wednesday said that serious steps were being taken to increase the board’s income.

Addressing a press conference here, Iqbal said that presently the Wakf Board was getting revenues of nearly Rs 7 crore per annum. This would be increased to over Rs 100 crore and several measures were being taken in this regard, he said.

Iqbal said that the Wakf Board lacks funds for maintenance and development of Wakf properties. The employees are not permanent and lot of administrative reforms need to be taken in the Board. He said that steps were being to streamline the functioning of the Board.

The Special Officer said that the Board’s revenues could be increased by removing the encroachment on Wakf properties. He asked the District Collectors to play an active role in protection and restoration of Wakf properties. He said that the DROs could register criminal cases against the encroachments on Wakf properties. He said that the properties of Dargah, Masjid and Ashoorkhanas belong to institutions and they could not be sold to individuals or institution. He said that steps were being taken to cancel the Occupancy Revenue Certificates issued to encroachers in some cases.

Iqbal also informed that the Board was also considering the proposal of taking over the properties of Alladin Mecca Madina Wakf, which runs about five Trusts. He said that the Board was presently getting revenue of Rs 18 lakh per annum although each of those trusts have the potential of earning Rs 3.5 crore annually. INN