Wakf elections after three years

December 30, 2007
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Dec 29: The State Wakf Board will finally be constituted after Sankranti with the State government announcing the schedule of elections to the richest Muslim endowment body in the country.
The State Wakf Board has been headless for the past three years after the Board constituted by previous TD government resigned in the wake of change in government. The Congress government began the election process three years ago but could not move further with some of the mutavallis (custodians) of Wakf properties approaching High Court.
Now that all legal hurdles have been cleared, the government has issued notification for polls to the Wakf Board. The Board has 11 members and of these, five are nominated by the State government. Elections are held for six members who include two
mutavalli representatives, one Muslim member of the AP State Bar Council, two Muslim MPs and one Muslim MLA. The nominated members include one government official not below the rank of deputy secretary, one Shia religious scholar, an eminent Islamic leader and two representatives of eminent Muslim social organisations.
Elections have already been conducted for the MP, MLA and Bar Council slots three years ago. The results are yet to be announced. Now polling will be held for two Mutavalli members on January 16. Once the polling process is over, the government will officially constitute the Wakf Board.
The Board has about 70,000 properties valued at around Rs 50,000 crore. Many Wakf properties have been leased or sold out in the last three years by officials in the absence of the Board. According to sources, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen has set its eyed on the coveted post of the chairmanship. Incidentally, this is the first time that the MIM wants to have control over the Board.