Wakf Board Employees In Trouble

44 employees of the Muslim Wakf Board are a worried lot. They have been worried ever since the State High Court accepted a writ petition challenging their appointment to the Wakf Board.

The writ petition was filed on September 16th, 2010 and it was taken up by the High Court on September 20th. The court has asked these 44 employees to file a reply within a fortnight of their receiving the court notice.

These 44 employees, the writ petition (No. 23461 of 2010) states, have been appointed by the Wakf Board after they produced fake educational certificates, and were in violation of several other rules and regulations of the terms of appointment.

The writ petition states that these 44 employees were appointed either on consolidated pay or on a temporary basis, and that these appointments were later regularised without the prior approval of the state government, in violation of norms. These norms state that the Wakf Board has to submit the cadre strength and obtain prior approval for appointment. According to the writ petition, the local fund audit took an objection with regard to the appointments on consolidated pay and the subsequent regularization of the employees within 1 year of their temporary appointments (Folio No. 11/Accts/Audit/SA/F/2008, Dated 26-4-08).

The government had even enacted a law in public interest, 'The Andhra Pradesh Regulation of Appointments to Public Services and Rationalisation of Staff Pattern and Pay Structure Act, 1994', to prevent appointments without the prior permission of the competent authority and without the name of the concerned candidate being sponsored by the employment exchange.

The writ petition states that these 44 employees were appointed by the special officers and the Minister Of Minority Welfare and the CEOs over a period of time, in violation of several laws and acts.

Amazingly, the 44 employees named in the writ petition are related to one other.

The fact that these appointments are arbitrary, the writ states, has emboldened them to have a free hand in indulging in collusion with land-grabbers.

The writ petition says that these 44 employees are selling and mismanaging Wakf properties worth crores of rupees. The petitioner accuses these employees of deliberately misplacing important files and documents related to a vast number of properties.

The petitioner pointed out to the court that 60% of the properties of which the documents are missing have been either sold or have been occupied by land sharks or land grabbers.

The Muslim Wakf Board is the guardian of properties worth around an estimated Rs. 7 lakh crore belonging to Muslims in Andhra Pradesh alone.

The Muslim community leaders have been long saying that if the properties which the Wakf Board is the guardian are properly managed, they do not need to look to the government for their social, economic and educational needs.

Some community elders point out that former Union minister K L Rao had developed a Wakf property measuring 1,300 sq yd at Gandhi Chowk in Vijayawada and christened it 'Imdad Ghar Sarai Mosque Complex' in the year 1970 at the cost of Rs. 70 lakhs. The construction was funded by the Central Wakf Council. The rents from this complex amount to Rs. 36 lakh per annum. A college in the name of former president Dr. Zakir Hussain is run in this complex.

Courtesy: INN