Assam Government yet to probe Wakf ‘corruption’

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Nearly four years after Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had announced that a survey would be conducted of the Wakf property in the State and also institute a probe into alleged corruption into the various deals on the property, the State Government is yet to take any step in this regard.

“It is a very frustrating development. It has once again proved that both the Congress and the BJP are the same when it comes to dealing with the Wakf property. I have reasons to believe that an influential and powerful lobby of land mafias, politicians and bureaucrats is still very active, forcing the government to turn a blind eye to the large-scale encroachments and misuse of the Wakf property in the State,” Nekibur Zaman, former chairperson of Assam State Wakf Board told The Sentinel.

Zaman, who is also a social activist, said he tried his best to pursue the previous Congress government and also the present BJP-led government to conduct a survey of the Wakf property and institute a probe into the corruption taking place in the deals of such property. He said all his honest efforts have failed to yield any positive result.

The Wakf property in the State was last surveyed in 1957. The landed property of the State Wakf Board at that time was over 15,000 bighas that might have swelled manifold by now as donations to the Board do take place from time to time. All the donors were indigenous Muslims. However, to the utter surprise of the community, Wakf property has been under illegal encroachment since 1957.

“There has been gross misuse of the Wakf property. There have also been allegations of rampant corruption in the Board. The encroachment of Wakf property began right from Fancy Bazar in Guwahati to both Brahmaputra and Barak Valleys. A large chunk of the property has been encroached upon,” Zaman said.

The Wakf properties should – under normal circumstances – yield revenues of over Rs 7,000 crore per annum. However, in the recent fiscal years, the revenue collected from the properties was between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.

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