Delhi: Parliament committee to hear views from Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind on Waqf Amendment Bill

New Delhi [India], October 14 (ANI): The Joint Committee of Parliament will meet on Monday in the Parliament Annexe to discuss the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. During this meeting, the committee will hear views and suggestions from Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Delhi, regarding the Bill.

Additionally, the committee has invited experts, including Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain and Adv. Ashwini Upadhyay from Delhi, and Adv. Virendra Ichalkaranjikar from Mumbai, to provide their insights.

The committee will also convene again on Tuesday, to hear oral evidence from representatives of the Ministry of Minority Affairs concerning the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

On September 28, as part of its nationwide consultation exercise on the proposed Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Joint Parliamentary Committee held a meeting in Hyderabad with various stakeholders.

Waqf Amendment Bill JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal, BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress MP Imran Masood were among others who were present in the meeting held at Hotel Taj Krishna, Hyderabad.

Speaking at the meeting, the JPC chief said, “We held discussions with the Chhattisgarh Waqf Board chairman, Andhra Pradesh Waqf Board Chairman. Stakeholders from 42 organisations participated in the discussions. We are holding discussions with stakeholders across various cities. From here, we will go to Chennai and then Bangalore. Earlier, we went to Ahmedabad and Mumbai. We are also going to Delhi. We have to submit the report before next Parliament session and we will discuss with as many stakeholders as possible and make a comprehensive report.”

BJP MP and member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, Aparajita Sarangi, said that the JPC members received very good suggestions that will help to shape the bill.

“The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf matters met today in Hyderabad. We had a very long session today and the Chairman and all the members of JPC met around 42 organisations. We received very good suggestions. All these suggestions and grievances will help us shape the bill which has been given to us,” Sarangi said

“So I think there would be a lot of work done before the bill is presented before the Speaker for further discussion in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. I think all parts of the country are being covered. We are trying to make it as wide based as possible. I am sure we can shape the bill in the right shape with all the inputs we are receiving,” she added.

Notably, another meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 with the Gujarat government was held in Ahmedabad today.According to Jagdambika Pal, the meeting was attended by the Gujarat Home Minister, Gujarat’s Waqf board officers, chairman, minority commission officials and Islamic scholars.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Aug 8 and was then referred to a JPC after a heated debate.The JPC on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 is holding a series of informal discussions with various stakeholders till October 1.

These consultations aim to refine the proposed amendments to the Waqf Act, which governs the management of over 600,000 registered waqf properties across the country.The Waqf Act, 1995, was created to regulate waqf properties, but it has long faced allegations of mismanagement, corruption and encroachments. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeks to bring sweeping reforms, introducing digitisation, stricter audits, transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties.The committee has to submit its report to the Lok Sabha by the last day of the first week of the next parliament session.