Following complaints of embezzlement of funds, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Wakaf Board is conducting an audit to detect financial frauds in the organization.
Recently the board terminated services of four employees –two permanent and two contractual – who had been found pocketing money ratherthan depositing them into the accounts of the Wakaf Board, which is the secondlargest asset-rich organization after the state government.
Giving details about the embezzlement of funds in the board,an official said, “An employee who was supposed to collect money from theshopkeepers and later deposit it into the official bank account of the board,chose to keep the money (Rs 7 lakh) with himself.”
Similarly, the official said, “One more employee was foundpocketing money collected from the shopkeepers. And now two more employees havebeen found not depositing the money in the bank and we are sure there will bemore such cases.”
To safeguard the Wakaf Board from any such future frauds andbring accountability into the board and importantly to get an insight about theembezzlement that seems to be rife in the board, the vice-chairman Wakaf Boardis conducting an audit.
“A total of five people – four from government and one fromWakaf Board – are conducting this audit. In 2004 an audit was conducted bygovernment and then again in 2012 an audit was conducted in central office ofthe board. Now, after a gap of eight years audit has been conducted on thedirections of the vice-chairman,” said an employee at wakaf.
Vice Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Wakaf Board, G RSufi, said, “When I joined the office in December last year, I saw that thereis an auditor in the Wakaf board, I asked him for report, but he said he hasn’tconducted any audit. I assigned him the job of auditing and also spoke to DGaccounts and secretary finance to send a special team so that they can conductan audit. I hope that no cases of embezzlement are reported, but if at allthere are cases I will take action accordingly.”
This is, however, not the first time that the cases ofembezzlement of funds, corruption and favouritism have come to fore in theboard.
As reported by Greater Kashmir, an apartment at Gupkar herethat belonged to Wakaf board was given to a politician’s daughter.
As per a report, “Set No. 5 and 6 comprising 6 bedrooms, 2kitchens and two washrooms were under the use of some private individuals whowere defaulters and their licence had also expired. Accordingly, keeping inview Sub Section 2 of the Section 22-B of J&K Muslim Specified Wakfs andspecified Wakf Act 2004 /2005, the users were evicted and the property waslocked and sealed by the Board.”
“The next course of action on part of Muslim Wakaf Board wasto notify the aforesaid property for public auction subject to the payment ofpremium and license fee as per the prevalent market rates as laid down in theAct,” the document adds.
But ignoring the provisions of the law and guidance ofSupreme Court, the apartment was allotted in favour of daughter of a former minister.The order was later cancelled.
Wakaf was established in 1940 by National Conference founderSheikh Mohammad Abdullah as Muslim Auqaf Trust with an objective to help theneedy and downtrodden sections of Muslims in the state. In 2003, the PDP-led coalitiongovernment took control of the assets of the Muslim Auqaf Trust andrechristened it as J&K Muslim Wakaf Board, while also promising to bringnecessary reform in the board. But there was no visible improvement in itsworking.