The absence of key functionaries in the J&K Wakaf Board is badly hampering the working of this vital institution. Even after the recent amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Specified Wakafs and Specified Wakaf Properties (Management and Regulation) Act, 2004, the Board has not been provided with the Chairman.
This September, the Raj Bhavan cleared an amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Specified Wakafs and Specified Wakaf Properties (Management and Regulation) Act, 2004, paving way for the Governor to become its ex-officio chairperson during Governor’s rule, provided he is a Muslim.
In case the Governor is a non-Muslim, he, as per the amended act, can appoint any “eminent person” including one of his advisors as chairman of the Wakaf Board.
Even as the amendment has been made a month ago, the Governor is yet to appoint the chairman to the Wakaf Board.
“There is a complete lawlessness in the Board. Any one comes, holds a meeting and then leaves. Nobody knows who is doing what. The Governor should appoint the chairman as soon as possible,” said an official associated with the Board.
Before the amendment, no state law existed to guide the functioning of the Board under Governor’s rule.
The Board, which during the popular rule is headed by the Chief Minister, has been without a chairperson since the fall of the PDP-BJP government on June 19.
Senior PDP leader Nizam-ud-din Bhat who had been appointed as vice chairperson of the Board by the PDP-BJP government, resigned weeks after the state came under Governor’s rule.
The Board is responsible for the upkeep of Wakaf properties and shrines in the state.
As per the Act, “The chairman shall exercise general control and superintendence over the functioning of the Board.”
The vice-chairman, as per the Act, shall be responsible for the overall functioning of the Board. Some of the key functions of the vice-chairman are: To utilise endowment funds for the upliftment and empowerment of the Muslims in the state, to sanction relief to the indigent and destitute, etc.”
In absence of both the chairman and the vice-chairman, the functioning of the Board, which is arguably second largest asset rich organisation after the state government in J&K, has been hampered.
“The files are pending, people are suffering, decision making is zero and importantly there is no accountability. There is urgent need for the Governor to step in and appoint the chairperson for the Board,” said the employees working with the Board.