Centre to set up Waqf boards in J&K, Ladakh

NEW DELHI: The government is gearing up to set up waqf boards in the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh after the erstwhile state’s special status was revoked last year.


The minority affairs ministry will soon constitute separate Sunni and Shia Waqf Boards for J&K and

a Waqf Board for Ladakh

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Prior to revocation of J&K’s special status, around 27,200 waqf properties were registered with the J&K State Waqf Council (24,000) and Muslim Specified Waqfs in Srinagar (3,200). All these will now be brought under the purview of the waqf boards to be set up under the Central Waqf Act.

Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday said the process for establishing waqf boards in J&K and Ladakh had started. “The boards will ensure proper utilisation of waqf properties in the region and the central government will provide adequate financial assistance to create infrastructure for socio-economic and educational activities under Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram on waqf land,” Naqvi said.

At the meeting of the Central Waqf Council, Naqvi took note of complaints of encroachment on waqf properties in several states. A team of senior officials from the Central Waqf Council will visit states from where these concerns are being reported. There are about 6.64 lakh registered waqf properties across the country. Digitisation of all state waqf boards has been completed and geo-tagging and GPS mapping of waqf properties is being done. All 32 state waqf boards have been provided video conferencing facilities.