Waqf Boards' property to be registered for minority welfare: Najma Heptullah

Patna, Jan 22: Union Minister for Minority Affairs Najma Heptullah on Thursday said that the property belonging to Muslim Sunni and Shia Waqf boards in the country will be registered and developed to fund minority welfare activities.

"Six lakh acres of waqf property is spread all over India. If we develop them according to the Sachchar Committee report they will provide anywhere between Rs 20,000 crore and 25,000 crore per annum. This money can be used for the welfare and upliftment of Muslims in the country," Heptullah said here.

She added that to make this happen, waqf boards in the country will be reconstituted and the property belonging to them will be registered to facilitate their digitisation.

Linkages with 'Aadhaar' number will also be provided to bring in transparency in the activities. "Some people may feel bad about these measures, but they are for the benefit of the Muslims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has entrusted me to oversee their implementation. Our officers have started discussing it with waqf boards. They are doing it in Patna today," Heptullah said.

The Union Minister was speaking at a function at the Bihar BJP headquarters here, while talking about various schemes initiated by the Centre for the welfare of six categories of minorities - Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis.

PTI