More than four years after its takeover by the central government, the National Conference is poised to make several changes to the Waqf board.
Speaking to The Kashmiriyat, Jammu Kashmir National Conference senior leader and MLA Anantnag west said that the new government is planning to fix all the loopholes in the Waqf board that manages the affairs of major Khanqahs and mosques across the Kashmir region. “Many things will be changed and some might be retained, the government will take a decision on it soon,” said Advocate Abdul Majid Dar. (Larmi)
Advocate Dar, who won with over 10,000 votes, said that some good things “might” have happened, the government is likely to retain them, while many other changes have to be brought for the better funcitioning of the board.
Pertinently, Jammu Kashmir Waqf board is currently run by the central government.
In 2020 December, the government started setting up the Central Waqf boards in Jammu Kashmir. As per the Jammu Kashmir reorganization Act, 133 Muslim mosques and shrines in Jammu Kashmir were put under the Central Waqf Board.
In the same month, Union Central minister, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that after the abolition of Article 370, Waqf properties will be taken over by the Central Waqf board. He said that the property and the income of the shrines in Kashmir will be used for socio-economic-educational activities under ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Program’.
He said that the funds of the Waqf board will be under the Prime Minister’s Public Development Program. Naqvi said, “For the first time since independence, the government led by Narendra Modi will provide 100 percent of funds for the development of educational and health institutes on Waqf properties across the country.”