Hindu Vidhidnya Parishad files a complaint with the State Government!
Mumbai : All the temples under the control of the Maharashtra government publish their audit reports on their respective websites; however, the Maharashtra Waqf Board has not submitted its audit reports to the government for the past 17 years. Unfortunately, the state government has also not questioned the Waqf Board regarding this. Considering the numerous complaints of land grabbing by the Waqf Board that have surfaced over the past few years, this issue is extremely serious. To draw the government’s attention to this matter, the National President of Hindu Vidhidnya Parishad, Adv. Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, gave a written complaint with the Maharashtra government. In this regard, Adv. Ichalkaranjikar has also written a letter to the Chief Minister, Hon. Devendra Fadnavis, and Minority Development Minister, Hon. Dattatray Bharne, demanding the dissolution of the Waqf Board if necessary
The Maharashtra State Waqf Board holds approximately one lakh acres of land. It receives funding from the Maharashtra government every year. Expenses such as office costs, diesel for vehicles of office bearers, and salaries of employees are paid from the government treasury. According to the Waqf Board Act of 1995, it is mandatory to submit annual audit reports to the government. The government should study these reports and issue orders accordingly. However, as per information obtained under the Right to Information Act, the Maharashtra State Waqf Board has not submitted a single audit report since 2008. On one hand, the money from temples is used for government schemes, while on the other hand, the government provides funds to the Waqf Board every year. Where does the Waqf Board get so much land? How does the landholding keep increasing continuously? It is time to seek answers to these questions, said Adv. Virendra Ichalkaranjikar.
There is no transparency in the functioning of the Maharashtra State Waqf Board. If the audit is conducted every year, there is no scope for corruption in the following year. However, when audits of 10 years are done at once, figures can be altered or made to disappear. This is a highly serious matter. If the Waqf Board does not follow government orders, it should be dissolved under the relevant provisions of the Waqf Board Act. The government has the power to do so. Information such as the courts where the lakhs of cases are pending, their hearing dates, and benches is available on respective websites. However, such information is not provided on the Maharashtra Waqf Authority’s website, pointed out Adv. Virendra Ichalkaranjikar.
