16,844 waqf properties encroached in India

NEW DELHI:  As many as 16,844 waqf properties in India have been encroached upon by private and public bodies, according to official data. Maximum cases of encroachment have been reported from Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal where 5610, 3240, 3082 such properties have found to be illegally occupied.  There are about 5, 12,556 registered and non-registered waqf properties in India. 

Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi gave a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday wherein he stated that Waqf properties were found to have been encroached in 20 states and two Union Territories. Besides Punjab, MP and Bengal, the other states are Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Rajasthan, Manipur, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Odisha, Puducherry, Jharkhand, Andaman & Nicobar and Uttarakhand. 

Speaking about what action has been taken to against the encroachers, Naqvi said the general superintendence of auqaf in a state is vested with the State Waqf Board (SWB) and it’s the duty of the SWB to ensure that Waqf properties are properly maintained, controlled and administered.   The minister added that the Central Waqf Council also takes up issues of encroachment with the concerned Waqf Board with a view to expedite the process of disposal of litigation and retrieval of the waqf properties facing encroachment.