The Uttarakhand government will conduct a survey and mapping of more Waqf properties in the state to identify the type of land being used as wakf properties and the purpose and categories of properties owned by the Uttarakhand Wakf Board.

Officials in the Minorities Affairs Department and the State Wakf Board informed that the state government was preparing an action plan to identify every property being used as Waqf property in the state.

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The survey will not only include the land being used by private parties as Wakf establishments but also the categories of more than 2,500 properties controlled by the Uttarakhand Wakf Board. Apart from this, a large number of encroached Wakf properties being used as business establishments will also be under scanner in the survey.

The officials said that the survey of the Wakf properties is being taken up in view of alleged huge misappropriations of the properties as Wakf land. The survey will also identify what categories of properties have been acquired and owned by the State Wakf Board and since when. The findings of the survey will also incorporate the nature of the existing properties, buildings and other structures built on land, extent of encroachment in the wakf properties, the purpose of the properties being used.

It is noteworthy that the Uttarakhand government has never conducted a survey of the wakf properties in the 25 years of the state’s formation. Earlier, it was done in the undivided Uttar Pradesh in 1984.

According to the officials, the survey will be carried out by respective district administrations in accordance with points of references and directions issued by the state government.

What is notable is that the Uttarakhand Wakf Board currently owns around 2,500 properties in the state. It alleged that more than these properties were being used privately as ‘wakf by users’ which according to Shariyat norms. Majority of the properties are located in 20 of the 27 tehsils in Dehradun, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar districts. Most of the land belongs to the Sunni Muslim community. Besides, the survey of the state government will also take up mapping of Waqf properties identified.

“It’s a welcome step by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. This exercise will help in ushering more accountability and transparency in the matters of wakf properties. There must be a detailed survey of every property being used in the name of wakf. There are a large number of wakf properties being used by private owners as their personal business establishments or belongings” Uttarakhand Wakf Board Chairman Shadab Shams.

He added, “Survey and mapping of these lands will help the state government and the Wakf Board to gain ownership over them with due transparency. According to the law, the Wakt Board is a government body that functions as its monitoring agency for Wakf properties. A large number of individuals are using wakf properties as their personal establishments. These properties will be merged with the government and the board after the survey. I will soon meet the chief minister in this regard and request him expedite the plan as early as possible.”