HYDERABAD: Bifurcation blues are haunting Waqf Boards of the two Telugu states. As about 40 per cent of records continue to remain with the Telangana Waqf Board, Andhra Pradesh officials are finding it difficult to deal with issues concerned with properties back home.
It has been more than two months since Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy instructed the officials to conduct a comprehensive study on Waqf lands. But as a sizeable chunk of documents relevant to Andhra Pradesh are still lying with Telangana, it is impacting the progress of the study.
According to Andhra Pradesh officials, a series of requests to hand over the documents has fallen on deaf ears. These land records, along with Telangana’s documents, have remained in a 'sealed room' for close to four years. Hampered by this, Andhra Pradesh, like Telangana, is unable to present strong evidence in courts on many occasions.
“It has been seven years since the bifurcation happened. We have been regularly requesting the CEO and the secretary for access to the records. It is impacting the day-to-day functioning of the administration. We are losing cases owing to a lack of clear evidence to present in courts. The issue was also brought to the notice of the Central Waqf Council,” informed an higher official of the Andhra Pradesh Waqf Board.
CWC plans meeting with CEOs
The 'record room', known to contain thousands of important documents from both the Telugu States, has remained inaccessible to even Telangana officials. It is guarded by security personnel and is accessible only to Revenue officials. Even the Central Waqf Council (CWC), in its latest visit to Telangana, pitched for a demand to open the room, citing loss of prime Waqf properties to land sharks.
"We have been demanding the Telangana government to unseal the room, but to no avail. Both the States are losing Waqf lands, as a lot of evidence is sealed inside the record room. To resolve the matter, the CWC will hold a meeting shortly by inviting the CEOs of both States to New Delhi," CWC member Haneef Ali said.