To do away with the massive and widespread encroachments on wakf lands, the state government has invited expressions of interest (EoI) for collecting data on the encumbrances on these Muslim religious endowments through satellite and videographic surveys.
The issue of encroachments and irregularities in wakf land, which are spread over 93,000 acres in Maharashtra, are a political hot potato.
In a written reply to a question by Abdullakhan Durrani (NCP) and others in the state legislative council on Monday, minority welfare minister Eknath Khadse said the satellite/videographic survey, which will collect data about the present extent of encroachments on wakf lands, will cost around Rs10 crore. He added that the state government issued instructions to the wakf board from time to time regarding doing away with the encumbrances and the board was doing the needful.
State government statistics suggest Maharashtra has around 93,418 acres of wakf land (23,566 properties), with the maximum land parcels in Aurangabad division (57,802 acres), followed by 9,310 acres in Pune, 9,260 acres in Nagpur, 8,350 acres in Nashik, 5,941 acres in the Konkan and 2,755 acres in Amravati. However, a task force under the principal secretary (revenue) had pointed out that around 70% of these properties were under illegal occupation, or had been encroached upon or were transferred. The wakf board was set up in 2002.
In the past, the issue of illegal transfer and sale of wakf lands had bared the differences between then state auqaf minister Anis Ahmed and chief minister late Vilasrao Deshmukh. Retired district and session judge ATAK Sheikh was also appointed on the one- member inquiry committee to probe the illegal transfer of wakf properties in the state.
A committee of the state legislature (in its previous term) had pointed to rampant encroachments on wakf lands in Maharashtra and recommended that these encumbrances be done away with. It noted that the real property of the wakf board was its land and mooted the need to plan the raising of funds through this land.
In 2011, in a sustained drive across the state, the state government had managed to recover over 465 acres of encroached wakf land, most of which is in the Marathwada region. The department had also initiated action to recover 1,208 acres of land spread across 1,088 properties in Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani, Nanded, Osmanabad, Latur, Beed, Pune, Nashik, Amravati, Sangli, Nagpur, Ahmednagar, Dhule and Jalgaon districts.
Maharashtra also has 82 government offices on wakf lands, including 30 in Latur division, 18 in Aurangabad, 14 in Nanded, eight in Jalna, seven in Osmanabad and five in Parbhani.
The state cabinet in September 2007 also approved an amendment to the Bombay Government Properties (Eviction) Act, 1955, to treat the wakf properties as government properties. The amendment, which has placed the wakf properties at a status equivalent to the government properties, has designated the wakf board CEO as a competent authority for initiating action in this regard.
Under scanner
Minority welfare minister Eknath Khadse told the legislative council that the state was examining a report of an inquiry into irregularities in the wakf board during the tenure of its former CEO ND Pathan.
Pathan was nabbed by the ACB in a corruption case and has been accused of illegally leasing out the board's property, converting the land's use into non-agriculture and allowing constructions. Khadse said if necessary, they would also file a criminal case after examining the report.
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