NEW DELHI: The delay in the election of the Delhi Waqf Board (DWB) chairman has increased the agony of its 150 employees and Imams and Muezzins of about 300 mosques who haven’t been paid for eight months. As the board is without a chairman since February, financial transactions such as payment of power bills and fuel purchases are also pending.
Monetary assistance to about 1,300 beneficiaries registered with the body including widows and disabled has also not been released for months. The employees have now written to the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Divisional Commissioner (Revenue) Sanjeev Khirwar, chairperson of the Delhi Minority Commission, DWB CEO Tanvir Ahmed, and members of the board requesting them to resolve the issue.
“We, the employees of the DWB, are writing this letter to your good self with huge hope and as a last resort because we are not getting our salaries from the last eight months... We have already sent our representation to honourable CM and revenue minister of the Delhi government but no response has been received yet,” says the letter sent on Tuesday.
DWB, the custodian of about 2,000 properties including mosques, graveyards, schools, shops, and parcels of land, pays remuneration of Rs 18,000 and Rs 16,000 every month to Imams and Muezzins, respectively. It also provides support of Rs 2,500 per month to widows and disabled. Ahmed said the ‘crisis’ had worsened because the DWB chairman is yet to be elected.
“All financial powers are with the chairman. Since a new chairman has not been elected for eight months, all bills including salaries of the employees are pending,” he said. Himal Akhtar, a DWB member, said that the CEO must call a meeting of all members to nominate an authorised signatory for the time being until the new chairman is elected so that salaries and other pending bills could be cleared.
The term of the chairman ended in February following the dissolution of the sixth legislative assembly. Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, who was occupying the post, is the frontrunner for the position again. The election was scheduled for Monday. However, the process was deferred following a Delhi High Court order.