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| Wakf Board's Shops in Lal Chowk rented out for Rs 300 a month | | Astounding! | | Early Times Report
srinagar, Oct 24: J&K Wakf Board, which has assets worth hundreds of crores across the state, is earning mere peanuts from them as rent, thanks to the authorities of the Board.
As per details available with Early Times, the Wakf Board owned properties including shops have been rented at very nominal charges of Rs 200 to Rs 300 month around the commercial hub of Lal Chowk.
The rent charged in other commercial areas of Srinagar ranges between Rs 80 to Rs 200. It clearly shows how this Board, the custodian of Muslim religious properties including mosques and shrines in the Valley, has miserably failed to utilize its huge assets.
The Wakf Board was established in early 1940s by National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. It used to be known as Muslim Auqaf Trust and its aim was to help the needy and down-trodden sections. But the Wakf Board miserably failed in its objective, primarily due to its failure to generate adequate revenue from the assets.
When Mufti Mohammad Sayeed came to power first time in 2003, his government took control of the assets of the Muslim Auqaf Trust and rechristened it as J&K Muslim Wakf Board. However, this didn't improve financial health of the institution, as its revenue generation still remains low.
The Board owns nearly 1500 shops with 1000 alone in Srinagar, besides several thousand kanals of land in the region. It also owns two hotels in the city including Hotel Taj at Lal Chowk and Hotel Gulmarg on posh Boulevard Road.
The 2014-15 financial statement of the Board shows that shops and other commercial establishments generated Rs 2.44 crore. These commercial establishments otherwise have the potential to fetch Rs 15-20 crore. The rent of the 51-room Hotel Taj located in heart of the city is Rs 3.45 lakh for a year. That means only Rs 28000 are charged as monthly rent from this hotel-cum-restaurant. In addition to it many of the licensees (to whom 11-month license is granted for shops) are not paying the paltry rent charges as well.
Reliable sources in the Wakf Board told Early Times that Rs 5 crore is outstanding against the licensees on account of the rent. Many of them don't pay even the nominal rent, because they feel it's their personal property.
In 2005, on the direction of then CM Mufti Sayeed, the Wakf Board had hired a private firm to evaluate rental value of its properties and shops in Srinagar. However, suggestions made by the firm for enhancing the rent were never implemented on the ground.
A committee constituted by government in 2012 to look into the administrative and financial mess of the Board, had pointed out that uninterrupted nomination of members with commercial interests in Wakf properties has been inimical to the economical and financial health of the institution. The report stated that a member of the Board had allotted a shop at Boulevard Complex to one of his relatives with a special incentive. "The allottee has been allowed 25 percent rebate on rent at the annual rate of Rs 2700 from 1984-88 without assigning any reason," the report states.
The income generated by Wakf Board from its prized land is also meager. In 2014-15, its income from agricultural land was Rs 66 lakh, the Board's financial statement reveals. The 2012 committee report had also revealed that Wakf land at several places was allotted through widespread official inaccuracies.
The panel had recommended "criminal investigation" into "counterfeit leasing" of prized land systematically to the close relatives of National Conference on cheap prices by the Wakf Board.
The Wakf Board which still earns crores from various shrines, mosques and shopping complexes across state has failed to create an official website of its own so that all the details of this board could be made available for public.
The absence of website also amounts to violation of J&K RTI Act 2009 as well because under Section 4 (1) (b) of State RTI Act, all public authorities have to put their details in the public domain. |
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