By Mumtaz Alam, India Tomorrow
New Delhi, 23 Jan 2014: With Rs 500 crore corpus fund, the much-touted National Wakf Development Corporation has come into operation from 22 Jan 2014. “It will be a profit making company wherein the central government will hold 58% share and wakf boards will have rest 42% stake,” announced K Rahman Khan, Union Minister for Minority Affairs, at a press conference here on Thursday. He said the government has initially sanctioned Rs 100 crore as first part of the corpus fund.
Highlighting the salient features of the new wakf law, the minister said the provision for leasing wakf properties can bring revolution as it can generate huge revenues. He further said according to the new law, leasing rules will be framed by the central government, not by the wakf boards as it was before.
To a question about wakf properties being encroached upon by the government itself, Mr. Khan said the new wakf law passed by the parliament in September 2013 allows wakf boards to take such cases to tribunal, not to court, and if the tribunal decides in favour of the court, the government will have to return such properties to the wakf board.
When this scribe asked why his Congress-led UPA government is sitting on the recommendation of Ranganath Mishra and Rajendra Sachar panels about 10% reservation to the Muslim community for last 10 years, the minister said his government has been trying to implement that recommendation in some way. The central government announced 4.5% reservation for minority within 27% OBC quota, but it was challenged in the court. He, however, categorically said that granting 10% quota to Muslims would be beyond the limit of quota set by the parliament. For that to happen, a constitutional amendment would be required.
When asked why his government not including Muslim and Christian Dalits in the category of Scheduled Castes for last 60 years, the minister said he personally in favour of SC status to Dalit Muslim and Dalit Christians and he is raising this issue in the cabinet meetings.
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