Samajwadi Party leader and former minister Azam Khan opposed the move of Yogi government to merge UP Sunni Central Waqf Board and UP Shia Waqf Board.
“I as minister for Minority Affairs and Waqf Board had rejected this proposal and I abide by my earlier stand. Both Waqf Boards are independent entities and are covered by an act of Parliament and their existence cannot be subverted by merging them,’’ Khan said on Monday.
Meanwhile UP minister of state for Waqfs, Mohsin Raza said, “The merger of the two Waqf Boards will save huge expenditure on overheads and also help in curbing corruption in both bodies. The state government has sought legal opinion on this issue and what is found to be best in the interests of Waqf properties of the two sects will be done by the state government.’’
Raza had said on Sunday that the state government was considering a proposal for forming a ‘UP Muslim Waqf Board’ by merging separate Sunni and Shia Waqf Boards to prevent wastage of money and for better control and administration of its properties. He said that both Sunni and Shia Waqf Boards were replete with charges of corruption.
The minister had said that the government was yet to take a decision and UP Muslif Waqf Board will have members from both Sunni and Shia sects and its chairman will be selected from among them.
Raza claimed that all states of the country, except UP and Bihar, have only one Waqf Board. Quoting the Waqf Act, 1995, the minister said that Shia or Sunni should have at least 15 per cent share in total Waqf units for constitution of separate boards, which was not the case in UP where the Shias account for only 5,000 units of total 24,000 Waqf units. In UP there are 24,000 waqf units, of which Shia Waqf has only about 5,000 units, which is only 4 to 5 per cent.
As per Central Waqf Council, there were only 3,000 units of Shia Waqf Board and that there was no point in keeping a separate Shia Board. “Separate Chairman, CEO and other staff incur heavy expenses. It is a wastage of money,” Raza said.