Waqf Board: 994 Waqf properties are occupied across the country, this state has seen the most encroachment

The Central Government on Monday (9 December 2024) gave important information related to the properties of the Waqf Board in Parliament. The Central Government said that the ownership of a total of 994 Waqf properties across the country has been changed or encroached upon. Of these, Tamil Nadu has the highest number of 734 properties.

In a written reply to the questions of Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas, the Ministry of Minority Affairs also informed that 872,352 immovable and 16,713 movable Waqf properties are registered under the Waqf Act in the country. For this, he cited the information available on the Waqf Property Management System of India (WAMSI) portal.

MP John Brittas had sought data from the whole country.

Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply, "According to the information available on the WAMSI portal, 994 Waqf properties have been alienated." Here isolated properties mean such land or properties which have been transferred or encroached upon through illegal means. In his question, Brittas had sought the number of Waqf properties across the country, state-wise details, as well as concerns about illegally transferred Waqf properties and details of such properties.

Kiren Rijiju told me what is the provision.

Minister Kiren Rijiju further said in response, "Section 51 (1-A) of the Waqf Act provides that any sale, gift, exchange, mortgage or transfer of Waqf property shall be void ab initio. Additionally, Section 52 of the Waqf Act states that if the (Waqf) Board after making any inquiry in the prescribed manner decides that any Waqf property has been transferred, it may send a request to the Collector under whose jurisdiction the property is situated to take possession of it and hand it over to the Board." 152 such properties in Andhra Pradesh and 63 in Punjab

The ministry further said that out of a total of 994 Waqf properties across the country, Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of 734 Waqf properties that have been wrongly transferred. This is followed by Andhra Pradesh with 152, Punjab with 63, Uttarakhand with 11, and Jammu and Kashmir with 10 such properties.