Most minority bodies in Maharashtra remain headless

The Maharashtra State Minorities Commission has completed its term, but the state is yet to appoint a new chairman and vice-chairman to head the body.

In Maharashtra, several agencies that were set up for the welfare of religious minorities are either defunct or functioning without a head or a managing board.

The Maharashtra State Haj Committee, which acts like a consultative body for the government department overseeing the annual pilgrimage, finished its term one-and-a-half years ago, but it is yet to be reconstituted. The Maharashtra State Urdu Academy has been without a head since 2010.

The Maharashtra State Wakf Board, which administers Muslim religious properties, has been barely functioning because it does not have a full-time chief executive officer.

“If these institutions were created for the welfare of minority groups, why is the government leaving them to die?" asked Maulana Mustkim Azmi, former member of the Maharashtra State Haj Committee.

The Maharashtra State Urdu Academy has been functioning without a head after academician Abdul Sattar Dalvi resigned in 2010 protesting the government's indifference in the body's functioning.

Dr Qasam Imam, member-secretary of the academy, said though a new managing committee is yet to be appointed, the old body continues to work.

The academy proposes to hold its general body meeting next month, but in the absence of a vice-chairman, it plans to call the minority affairs minister, who is the chairman.

The Maulana Azad Minorities Financial Development Corporation is operational, but with the old board, which has extended its term. State minority affairs minister Naseem Arif Khan said, "Wherever the executive committees have finished their term, we have extended their tenure. The appointment process for the state minorities commission and a new Haj committee is on.”