BENGALURU: At a time when the Central government is trying to bring in reforms to the Waqf Bill, and a parliamentary committee is examining the amendments, the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf has started the exercise of surveying its properties and gazetting them.
As per data from the Board, it has 1,07,651 acres of land under its possession, of which 90,000 acres are under litigation in various courts.
K Anwar Basha, chairman, Karnataka State Board of Auqaf, told The New Indian Express: “At present, the Board has 1,07,651 acres of land under its possession. But the custodians of these properties are the 40,840 institutions that are using them. The land belongs to them.”
Earlier, the Board had over 1.10 lakh acres of land, but due to various land reforms, including the Inams Abolition Act, Land Reforms Act and others, many acres were lost. “People had started donating lands to the Waqf Board from as early as 1828.
The Board also lost over 75,000 acres to the government for various projects, like creation of the Almatti dam and others. We have been given due compensation. Now we are asking for compensation or land in lieu of the 90,000 acres under litigation,” said another Board member, not wanting to be named. The lands which have been handed over have been utilised for setting up dargahs, mosques, graveyards and other such facilities.
Waqf lands to be geo-tagged: Official
The first survey of all Waqf properties was done during 1972-73, the second survey was completed in 2020. No land with the Waqf has been given by the government, all the land is donated by people for various purposes. Now with more donations, a resurvey of all the properties will be done, said Jilani Mokashi, director, Directorate of Minorities and Board’s CEO.
However, land details listed out by the Board are different from that of the revenue department. As per information from the revenue department’s Bhoomi app, 3,454.6 acres of land have been marked as Waqf land in the state. A senior revenue department official said they were doing a detailed survey of the lands and geo-tagging them to verify the records.
Recently, Minister for Housing, Minority Welfare and Waqf Zameer Ahmed Khan said: “Waqf property is God’s property and it’s everyone’s duty to protect it.” He had said that apart from graveyards, the government has not provided the Board with any other land. Khan added that many donors were willing to donate land for the construction of colleges and hospitals.