Wakf Board Chairman On Surprise Tour

On Tuesday, newly appointed Andhra Pradesh Muslim Wakf Board chairman Maulana Syed Ghulam Afzal Biyabani, better known as Khusro Pasha, conducted spot inspections of Wakf properties at Paththergatti near Charminar.

Khusro Pasha had 2 members of the Wakf Board and senior officials in tow during the inspection tour.

The Wakf Board chairman first visited the Nabikhana Moulvi Akbar complex which is owned by the board. The complex's 288 shops house wholesale clothes dealers, and is considered one of the busiest markets in the city.

Khusro Pasha found that the shopkeepers occupying the premises were not the lessees, but sub-lessees. The original lessees were supposed to pay the Wakf Board Rs. 100 to Rs. 280 per month per shop as rent. The facts on the ground stated that these sub-lessees were paying the lessees around Rs. 10,000 per shop per month.

The original lessees, after taking the shops on lease from the Wakf Board, did not pay even the standard paltry sum ranging from Rs. 100 to Rs. 280.

This has resulted in the rents due to Wakf Board mounting up to Rs. 1,12,00,000.

When the Wakf Board chairman tried to talk to the sub-lessees to increase the rents, they gave vent to a plethora of problems inside the complex including lack of maintenance of toilets, lighting, lifts and other amenities.

Pasha reminded them that those problems could be take care of if they agreed to become Wakf Board's lessees.

A few lessees agreed to the proposal.

The Wakf Board team then made its way to the Anees-ul-Gurba, an orphanage at Nampally. The visit was unscheduled, catching even the officials accompanying Pasha by surprise.

The unscheduled visit caught the orphanage caretakers by surprise, and they could not hide the duplicate receipt books used to collect donations from unsuspecting donors.

The caretakers also could not hide the fact that the meat, meant to feed the orphans, was being diverted to various meat shops in the city.

The Wakf Board team seized the account books and ordered an immediate and comprehensive inquiry into the affairs.

Courtesy: INN