Central Wakf Council

Central Wakf Council
Formation 1964
Headquarters 14/173, Jamnagar House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi-110011
Region served
India
Official language
English, Hindi, Urdu
Chairman
Minister of State for Ministry of Minority Affairs[1]
Main organ
Council
Affiliations Ministry of Minority Affairs, Govt. of India
Website Official website

Central Wakf Council, India is an Indian statutory body established in 1964 by the Government of India under Wakf Act, 1954 (now a sub section the Wakf Act, 1995) for the purpose of advising it on matters pertaining to working of the State Wakf Boards and proper administration of the Wakfs in the country. Wakf is a permanent dedication of movable or immovable properties for religious, pious or charitable purposes as recognized by Muslim Law, given by philanthropists. The grant is known as mushrut-ul-khidmat, while a person making such dedication is known as Wakif.[2][3][4]

The Council

The Council is headed by a Chairperson, who is the Union Minister in charge of Wakfs and there are maximum 20 other members, appointed by Government of India as stipulated in the Wakf Act. Presently the chairperson is Dr. Nazma Heptulla, the Minister for Ministry of Minority Affairs,[1] which overlooks its functioning.**Now the waqf Act,1995 has been amended by the Wakf (Amendment) Act,2013 to widen the fundamental function of council viz. it will be advising to State Govt. and State Waqf Boards also besides Central Govt.It has been given power to issue direction to the State Waqf Boards**[5]

State Wakf Boards

The State Wakf Boards are established by the State Governments in view of the provisions of section 13 & 14 of the Wakf Act, 1995**. These work towards management, regulation and protect the Wakf properties by constituting District Wakf Committees, Mandal Wakf Committees and Committees for the individual Wakf Institutions. ** The wakf Boards shall be body corporate having perpetual succession and common seal with power to acquire and hold property. In case more than fifteen percent of total number of wakf property is shia wakf or income thereof is more than fifteen percent the Act envisages about separate Shia Wakf Board**.

Presently there are thirty Wakf Boards across the country in twenty-eight states/Union territories. The State like Goa, Arunachal pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim and the UT Daman & Dieu have no wakf Board at present. the Waqf Act 1995 is not applicable to J&K**.

Justice Shashvat kumar, who headed the Shashvat Committee has prepared a status report on Muslims in India in 2011 and the finding of this report were that Nationwide, wakf properties constitute a land bank worth Rs. 1.2 lakh crore and could have generated annual returns of Rs. 12,000 crore but yield only Rs. 163 crore and have found out "a severe shortage of senior government officers who are Muslim to manage wakf affairs. A separate cadre would mean officers who are not only permanent but also qualified enough".[6]

In 2011, Haryana Wakf Board (HWB) has registered an all time high income of Rs 17.03 crore during 2010-11, which is Rs 3.33 crore higher than the previous year.During 2010-11, the Board spent Rs 3.32 crore on various educational and welfare activities.The Board had earmarked Rs 6.47 crore in the budget for 2011-12 to meet the main objects of wakfs and various educational and welfare activities, he said.[7]

Further reading

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Members". CFC website.
  2. Introduction Tamilnadu Wakf Board website.
  3. Ariff, Mohamed (1991). The Islamic voluntary sector in Southeast Asia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 42. ISBN 981-3016-07-8.
  4. Gupta, K.R.; Amita Gupta (2006). Concise encyclopaedia of India, (Volume 1). Atlantic Publishers. p. 191. ISBN 81-269-0637-5.
  5. Subjects allocated Ministry of Minority Affairs website.
  6. "Sachar sought a dedicated wakf cadre, govt said no". Indian Express. Retrieved Mar 3, 2011.
  7. "Haryana Wakf Board registers Rs 17.03 cr income". Press Trust of India. 29 Jul 2011.
 6. Afzalul Haque**

External links