BENGALURU: On the lines of state-owned temples, a special Hundi app has been developed to make donations to dargahs and mosques belonging to the state Wakf Board. Housing and Minority Welfare Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan launched the app at a meeting of the Karnataka Minorities Development Board on Tuesday. He said the app has been developed to ensure that donations made to dargahs and mosques are not misused and utilised for specific purposes.
The eHundi app has been introduced on an experimental basis at Hazrat Tawakkal Mastan Shah Dargah in Bengaluru. Soon, it will cover all the 3,131 dargahs and 10,398 mosques under the Wakf Board. Using the app, people can donate from anywhere using mobile-based payment systems like PhonePe, Google Pay etc, he added.
On the massive encroachment of Wakf Board properties across the state, he said special attention will be paid to vacating illegal occupants. Many cases are in court and discussions will be held with the advocate general to settle some of them outside the court. The Wakf Property Adalat will be held after the budget, he added.
Government agencies too have encroached on Wakf properties and they will be vacated, while action will be taken against encroachments by private parties. Officials should prepare a list of the total number of cases in courts and also encroachments by government agencies and private parties, he added.
On the rent fixed for Windsor Manor Hotel in Bengaluru, which is a wakf property, he said it is less compared to the present market rates. The hotel owes the Wakf Board Rs 2 crore, and board members should decide whether to fight this in a court. A separate meeting will be held to discuss this, he added.
The Board at present has a kitty of Rs 45 crore and it has been decided that the funds would be used to construct school and college buildings and to develop educational institutions, he said.
BUDDHISTS TO GET REPRESENTATION IN MINORITIES COMMISSION
The Buddhist community will be given a representation in the Minorities Commission, said Housing and Minority Welfare Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan. He told Buddhist monks who gave him a representation that institutions run by the community at Bylakuppe will be allowed to start a college. Buddhist monks gave him a memorandum and Zameer told them that discussions would be held with the minister concerned to resolve the issue of students from the community not getting caste certificates and election ID cards. The delegation requested him to get the Mysuru Urban Development Authority to allot them a plot in Mysuru for educational purposes. They also sought government grants to the Choddi Tashi Lumpo Cultural Society, which is working under the guidance of the Dalai Lama. The society has over 500 Buddhist monks and it is working with the Bodh Gaya Centre in Bihar. Zameer told them that funds would be granted.