Asif Iqbal Naik
KISHTWAR
Chief Minister Ms Mehbooba Mufti while chairing a meeting of Waqaf Council at Jammu on Wednesday directed for digitalization of all the land records of Waqaf property and ordered for taking strict action on those who had encroached the Waqaf land.
As per the details available with Kashmir Life, Ms Mufti asked all the Administrators of Auqaf in Jammu Division to prepare the details of Waqaf properties and the land which belongs to the Waqaf Council headed by the Chief Minister herself.
In her interaction with the members of Waqaf Council and the administrators of the Jammu Auqaf laid stress for safe guarding the Waqaf properties in the state and accorded sanction of release of Rs 1 crore for starting of Nursing Colleges established at Kishtwar and Jammu by the Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University for starting the class work from the year session and to meet out the college expenses.
She also stressed for providing better education to the students in these Nursing College which is the dream project of her late father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. She assured all possible help to the management of Nursing colleges in future as well.
During the course of the meeting which was attended by Minister for Hajj and Auqaf Farooq Andrabi, MLA Inderwal Ghulam Mohammad Saroori who is also member of State Waqaf Council, Vice-Chancellor BGBU, Revenue Secretary, Dr Nisar Ahmed, Administrator Auqaf Islamia Kishtwar Dr Tariq Hussain Dev, Chief Executive Officer Waqaf and others, several issues pertaining to functioning of Waqaf Council were discussed threadbare.
The issue of ITI which is under court stay was also discussed and members urged upon the Chief Minister to intervene into the matter so that much delayed ITI classes for various technical courses could be started.
The issue of passing of By-Laws by the former administrator Auqaf Islamia Kishtwar also come under discussion and same by-laws were rejected as there was no sanction to it from the state Waqaf Council which is mandatory under Waqaf Law.
While talking to Kashmir Life, MLA Inderwal Ghulam Mohammad Saroori confirmed that any By-Law if passed by any Auqaf Administrator without seeking approval from the Waqaf Council had no legal relevance and the By-Laws passed by the former Administrator Auqaf Islamia Kishtwar has no approval from Waqaf Council, hence are liable to be rejected.
He added that the main focus of the meeting remained on how to retrieve the Waqaf properties encroached by the people at different places.
He said that Waqaf Council is committed to safe guard the properties that belong to Waqaf/Ziarats.
He said that no one responsible for encroachment of Waqaf properties will be spared and said, “CM showed her great will in retrieving the Waqaf land and other properties presently under illegal encroachment.”
Despite repeated attempts, Administrator Auqaf Islamia Kishtwar could not be contacted for his comments.
The meeting also agreed upon the proposal of pay hike demand put forth by the management of BGSB University officials.
It is pertinent to mention that with the rejection of By-Laws passed by the former Administrator Auqaf Islamia Kishtwar, the newly posted Administrator Auqaf Islamia Kishtwar will get a sign of relief as the institution is presently facing the financial crisis after massive pay hikes of some employees were made under the ambit of these By-Laws which will now be rolled back.
The sources informed the Kashmir Life that the income at various shrines of Kishtwar had drastically came down after the unceremonious removal of Bashir Ahmed Shah from the post of Chief Supervisor Ziyarat.
