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Activists urge wakf board to revise the rents of its properties before allotment

Raising concern over the proposal to allot wakf land for Fruit Market in Pahadi Sharif Area instead of rehabilitation of fruit agents by the Government itself, the city based community activists warned that any such move in contravention of Wakf objective would attract a legal battle in the court of law.

Recently, a delegation of Fruit Market Wholesale Commission Agents have called on Chairman Telangana State Wakf Board and urged him to allot 16 acres of wakf land at Pahadi Sharif in Jalpally municipality for establishment of Fruit Market.

“Nothing is wrong in renting out wakf land to increase the income of the Board” said Syed Iftekhar Hussaini, a community activist adding that “The transaction, however, should be done in a fair manner upholding the sanctity of the wakf objectives.”

The WB, he said, should form a Rental Committee to ascertain the actual land value of the property and fix the rent accordingly as was done in the past. “To achieve the same, a report from the Department of Roads and Building (R&B) and GHMC should be sought to establish revised rates of the land being rented out,” he suggested.

Recalling that a Rental Committee was formed in the year 2015-16 by the then special officer Wakf Board Jalaluddin Akbar to formulate rates of rent, auction of hundies at shrines (dargahs) and other wakf properties, he said, “Similar rental committee should be formed to revise, regularize and fixed the rents of the land being identified to set-up fruit market at Pahadi Sharif.”

Pointing out that the Wakf Board is not entitled to rent-out wakf land by its own to any association, the activist said, “The agreements should be done through the Department of Agriculture who in turn manned the auctioning of land parcels to fruit agents as per the set procedure.” “Any deviation from the set rules will be seen as a violation of Wakf Objectives and will be challenged in the court of law,” he warned.

Finding fault with the move to establish a fruit market on wakf land instead of government land, the senior congress leader Rashed Khan said, “Already the wakf board has incurred heavy losses due to such agreements on throw away rents.  No such practices should be allowed to continue that led to cause further injury to the wakf objectives. The newly constituted Wakf Board should ensure protection of wakf properties and lands in the state besides rolling out measures to increase the income of the institution through revision of rents of wakf assets throughout the state.”