Lok Sabha Question No. 4299 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-18
Subject: Managing Waqf Properties
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shobha Karandlaje

## Managing Waqf Properties

## 4299. KUMARI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  launched  a  programme for  cent  percent  geo  tagging and digitalisation of Waqf properties across the country and if so, the details thereof including its objectives;
- (b) the number of Waqf properties across the country, State-wise;
- (c) whether  the  Government has received the report of  the  committee  to  review Waqf properties lease rule;
- (d) if so, the major recommendations of the Committee and the time by which action will be initiated on the said recommendations;
- (e) whether  the  Central  Waqf  Council(CWC)  is  providing  financial  help  to  State  Waqf Boards  for  digitalisation  of  Waqf  records  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  including assistance provided during the last three years; and
- (f)  whether CWC has provided video conferencing facilities to State Waqf Boards and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

(a):  Yes, Sir.  The work of GIS Mapping of waqf propertiesby the State Waqf Boards (SWBs) and IIT, Roorkee and AMU, Aligarh is being carried out effectively and progressively in various states  with  a  goal  to  digitize  100%  of  the  waqf  properties.  The  GIS  Mapping  of  the  waqf properties would help in identification and removal of encroachment from these properties.

In respect of digitalization of waqf properties, in the last five years, major work has been completed on a war-footing manner (85% so far) and State Waqf Boards (SWBs) have been directed  to  complete  the  remaining  work  on  top  priority.  Financial  assistance for  carrying  out GIS  Mapping  work  and  digitization  of  waqf  properties  has  been  provided  to  SWBs  through Central Waqf Council (CWC) which is Implementing Agency of the scheme.

(b):  This Ministry  has  developed  Waqf  Management  System  of  India  (WAMSI)  portal  for entering data of waqf properties. So far, State Waqf Boards have entered 5,81,799 immovable waqf  properties  in  WAMSI  registration  module  as  on  30.06.2019.  State-wise  details  of immovable waqf properties are available on the WAMSI portal at wamsi.nic.in.

(c) & (d): In order to assess the impact of the Waqf Properties Lease Rules 2014 on the ground and  examine  the  challenges  faced  in  its  implementation,  a  Committee  headed  by  Justice (Retd.) Zakiullah Khan, was constituted by this Ministry on 07.03.2018. Major recommendations made by the Committee in its report submitted on 17/01/2019 include: enhancement of the cutoff  of  rental  value  for  giving  advertisement  in  Newspapers  from  Rs.1000/-  per  month  to Rs.3000/- per month; Reduction in the reserve price from 2.5% of market value to 1.5% in case of leasing of waqf properties for commercial activities and from 2% to 1% in case of properties for hospitals, educational institutions and social sectors; fixation of reserve price of 1% in case of  properties for agricultural purposes; enhancement in the duration of lease from 5 years to 10 years  for  shops  and  from  1  year  to  3  years  for  agriculture  land;  one  time  relaxation  for occupants of waqf properties since 1995 with condition to clear their past arrears and so on. Now the comments from the union ministries and state governments on these recommendations are being obtained.

(e):  Yes Sir. Financial assistance under the scheme is released to SWBs for maintenance of Centralized Computing Facility (CCF) to help them to complete data entry and digitization of records of waqf properties, GIS Mapping, augmenting strength of personnel deployed in SWBs, capacity building of Muttawallis, office automation and so on. During the last three years, an amount of Rs.11.82 crore has been released to 28 SWBs.

(f): Yes Sir, video conferencing  facilities have been provided to 20 SWBs in the last two years i.e.  Bihar  (Sunni),  Haryana,  Karnataka,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Punjab,  Maharashtra,  Tamilnadu, Uttar  Pradesh  (Sunni),  West  Bengal,  Andaman  &  Nicobar  Island,  Andhra  Pradesh,  Assam, Bihar (Shia), Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu  & Kashmir, Manipur, Tripura and Uttarakhand.

********

| National WAMSI Project   |
|--------------------------|

Please Note: 1 . (x %) ==> x % completed w.r.t.Col.(C). 2. ( n ) ==> n numbers added in this month. * ORE Docs ==> Waqf Estate O wnership R ights E stablishing Doc ument s .