NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan was elected as the chairman of Delhi Waqf Board unopposed for a third time on Thursday.
"Khan was elected unanimously by the six members of the Waqf Board present at the meeting. No other member had filed nominations for the election of the post. Six members including Khan were present in the meeting held on Thursday. Former MP Pervez Hashmi didn’t attend the meeting," said Sanjeev Khirwar, divisional commissioner (revenue), Delhi government.
This will be Khan's third term as the chairman of the board. The position has been vacant since February following the dissolution of the sixth legislative assembly. The AAP leader said his priority would be to put the affairs of the board back on track, including addressing the issue of pending salaries of employees, imams and muezzins of mosques for months.
The functioning of the board, including payment of salaries, disbursal of various types of pensions and other administrative and financial matters, has been affected due to the absence of a chairman for nearly eight months.
The board employees even went on a strike demanding salaries. "I will try to resolve all the issues, including the pending salaries and other grievances of the staff and other stakeholders, within a week," Khan said after his election.
Khan, MLA from Okhla was elected as a member-MLA of the Waqf Board in September. Khan had resigned from the Board in 2016 and 2018 over corruption charges. His third term as chairman ended in February this year following the dissolution of the sixth legislative assembly.
Khan was re-elected from the same seat later. In September, the revenue department had ordered an audit to probe alleged irregularities committed in the Board during Khan’s tenure as chairman.
Priorities set straight with board in tough times
The AAP leader said his priority would be to put the affairs of the board back on track, including addressing the issue of pending salaries of employees, imams and muezzins of mosques for months. The functioning of the board was affected due to the absence of a chairman for nearly eight months