The Finance Ministry on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) to develop the National Wakf Corporation with a starting corpus fund of Rs 500 crore. The note will be sent to the Cabinet for approval later this month.
The decision was necessitated because of increasing encroachments of Wakf board properties.According to the latest records with the Ministry of Minority Affairs, 1,053 properties have been illegally occupied by Government agencies and 18,388 properties have been encroached upon by private bodies or individuals across India. These figures have seen an increase of seven per cent in the last one year.
These are just the official figures as there are no more than 10 per cent Wakf board properties, which are registered. There are over two lakh Wakf Board properties spread all over the country, of which the Ministry has no record.
“The decision of starting the National Wakf Board Corporation with a share capital of Rs 500 crore, was taken by the Expenditure Finance Committee with approval from the Planning Commission, Ministries of Corporate Affairs and Social Justice and Empowerment,” said an official from MoMA.
“Although the Cabinet has given an in-principle nod, we are waiting for a formal Cabinet approval. Thereafter, we will be registering the Wakf Board Corporation under department of Corporate Affairs,” he said.
The official said that according to rough estimates, Wakf properties worth over Rs 1.2-lakh crore are lying waste or unutilised and are under the constant threat of encroachment. “With the money from the corporation, these properties, which are spread all over the country, would be used to build hospitals, hostels, educational institutions, business establishments and even shopping complexes, so that they could become money spinners and help the community,” said the official.
“Considering the current market value of these lands, which comes to about Rs 1.2 lakh crore, these properties, if judiciously used, can generate at least 10- 12 per cent annual return, which means a recurring revenue of at least Rs 10-12,000 crore every year. The current income from these lands is just about Rs 160-crores, at a 2.7 per cent return rate,” he said.