Names of 2 IAS officers under consideration for Waqf Board appointment

Hyderabad: The state government is in search of a permanent CEO to better the performance of Telangana Waqf Board.  Since long no permanent official was appointed in the Board.  The officials were assigned Waqf duties as an additional charge.  The High Court had recently instructed the state government to take action against the Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Qasim for his failure to protect the Muslim graveyards’ lands.

The government had transferred Mohammed Qasim and given the additional charge of the Waqf Board to IPS officer Shahnawaz Qasim. 

Shahnawaz, currently, is the Director of Minority Welfare Department.  He is expected to get promoted next month as Inspector General of Police and he would move from Minority Welfare to Police Department.

To protect the Waqf Board Properties, senior officers are required.  The Minority Affair Department had suggested the names of two IAS officers viz: Ayesha Masrath Khanam and M.A. Azim.  The government, however, has not approved any of these names so far.

It is said that Ayesha Masrath Khanam, who had worked as the collector of Vikarabad, is not willing to take Waqf Board’s responsibility.  She is keen to serve as a Collector in any district.  The government had to choose between Ayesha Masrath Khanam and M Z Azim for the Wakf Board position.

It is interesting to note that the names of some of the police officials were suggested to the government but they too are unwilling to serve in the Waqf Board. The state government is in touch with Muslim officers in various departments but none is willing to accept the Wakf Board responsibility. It is learnt that some of the party leaders wrote to the Chief Minister to form a commissionerate in place of the Board.  Of late, the state government had to intervene in the Waqf Board affairs due to some controversial decisions taken by its officials.