Central Waqf Council team inspects Wakf Estate in Guwahati, discuss development schemes for Wakf Estates in Assam

Guwahati: A team of Central Waqf Council (CWC) officials recently visited Ohidur Rahman Wakf Estate in Fancy Bazar, Guwahati to take stock of the state of the Waqf property and for exploring avenues for proper development of the Wakf Estate under various schemes.

CWC Secretary BM Jamal and its Development Officer Mohd Khurshid Warsi accompanied by officials of ABW (Assam Board of Wakfs) visited the decades-old Wakf Estate in Assam. The visiting central team enquired about the acute problem of encroachment, illegal occupants, the status of leaseholders and revenue generated from the property.

Following the inspection of the Wakf Estate in the heart of Guwahati city, the CWC officials advised ABW officials on the need to properly develop the Wakf Estate in order to meet its social objectives and to realize its true revenue potential.

The Central Waqf team also briefed state wakf board officials on how to apply for CWC project fund for development of Wakf properties in the state, effective utilization of Central funds and need for submission of utilization certificates on time. Expressing concern over encroachment at the site, the CWC officials sought information about the scale of the encroachment of Wakf properties in the state and advised on how to effectively combat this issue as per the Waqf Act.

It may be mentioned that the CWC officials were in Guwahati for a crucial meeting of senior officials of Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, CWC (Central Waqf Council) and State Wakf Board Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of eight states.

The review meeting on ‘Quami Waqf Board Taraqqiati Scheme’ held on October 4 at Grand Majesty in Guwahati, reviewed schemes being implemented by the State Wakf Board of eight participating states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Tripura and West Bengal.

In the meeting, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the eight participating state Wakf Boards gave a detailed briefing to the visiting Minority ministry and Central Waqf Council officials about the progress made in the implementation of the various schemes and status of Wakf Estates in their respective states.

The CEOs of the Wakf Boards presented the status report and utilization certificates of the Central schemes in the review meeting. The Central officials reviewed the status report and advised the state Wakf officials on development schemes, better implementation of the schemes with accountability and on how to develop Wakf Estates by effectively utilizing various schemes of the ministry and financial institutions.