Hyderabad: Wonder which is the government institution that none wants to touch even with a bargepole? No prizes for guessing. It is the Telangana State Wakf Board. It has become a sort of ‘untouchable’ department as far as government officials go. They do their best to avoid working here.
The recent efforts of the Wakf Board to persuade Muslim officers of deputy secretary rank to head it have drawn a blank. Officers, the Wakf Board has sounded so far, to work as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) have turned down the offer and shown no interest whatsoever, it is said.
This follows the recent developments in the Wakf Board with the latter passing a resolution repatriating its CEO, Shahnawaz Qasim, an IPS officer of 2003 batch, to his parent department and seeking a full time CEO. When approached, the Telangana High Court directed the board to propose names of at least two officers to the government for appointment to the post of CEO. The Board is given four weeks to submit the names to the government. But its search to zero in on Muslim officers willing to serve as its CEO is proving futile.
There are just half a dozen Muslim officers of the rank of deputy secretary and above in the state. They are: Abdul Hameed, Additional Collector, Jangaon, Mohd Asadullah, PS to Home Minister, Ayesha Masrath Khanam, Shaikh Yasmeen Basha, Collector Wanaparthy and present Board member, M.A. Mannan, Joint Secretary, Law Department, B. Shafiullah, Secretary, Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions Society (TMREIS) and its Joint Secretary, Liyakhat Husain.
These officials are believed to have shown little interest in working at the Wakf Board. The reason is not far to seek. It is a well-known fact there is always intense political interference in Wakf Board’s affairs and officials find it difficult to work under such pressure. They are also under pressure to approve the irregular and often ‘unlawful’ demands of the Board members. There are many instances in the past of CEOs requesting the government to repatriate them back to their parent departments. Moreover, the CEOs have often faced music for the omission and commission of the Board members with enquiries initiated against them, “As such no official is willing to work here”, says a Board official.
As per Section 23 of the Wakf Act, the CEO should be a Muslim and not below the rank of a Deputy Secretary. But in practice officers of the rank of Deputy Collectors are posted and most of the time they are not even full-fledged CEOs. A lesser rank official is often a mute spectator and sometimes hands in glove with the ‘undesirable acts’ of the board members. Only the presence of an IAS or IPS officer will act as a deterrent. The situation can vastly improve if a civil servant is to head it, it is said. Even bitter critics of the board admit that its functioning was never as good as when it was under Special Officers’ regime. This was seen when IPS officers like S.A. Huda and Shaikh Mohammed Iqbal held the reins of the Board.
Part of the blame for the malfunctioning of the board also lies with the government which doesn’t take active interest in its affairs. The Chief Minister never bothers to monitor the Board’s functioning fearing that it might be seen as ‘interference’ in the religious affairs of the community. But this is a wrong presumption. Proper monitoring by the State Government will not only benefit but empower Muslims, many say.
At best, the functioning of the Wakf Board is never above board. Allegations of financial mismanagement and fraudulent dealings have always dogged it. Efforts to streamline its functioning have come to a naught. Many an upright officer has quit unable to bear the pressure from vested interests. One of the richest Muslim endowment bodies, the Telangana State Wakf Board boasts of 77,000 acres of landed property and 35,000 institutions. Unfortunately, 70 percent of the land is under encroachment. What is worse is that the Board has no record of some of its encroached properties. Efforts to evict the encroachers have been feeble and tardy.
The present turmoil in the Board is on account of differences cropping up between Shahnawaz Qasim and the members. There was a tug-of-war on several issues with Qasim not allowing the members to have their way. The main grouse against him is that he is not readily available since he is also discharging duties as Commissioner, Minorities Welfare apart from looking after the State Urdu Academy. “We want a full time CEO who can give more time to the Wakf affairs,” says Masiullah Khan, chairman, Telengana State Wakf Board.
But the Board’s resolution of October 20 to repatriate Qasim when the model code of conduct had come into force and without the EC’s permission to hold such a meeting is mired in controversy. This is not all. The undue haste shown by the Board in appointing Khaja Moinuddin, a Deputy Superintendent of Police working with it, as in-charge CEO has kicked up a storm and drawn the ire of the government. Meanwhile, the unsavoury developments in the Board have severely affected its already tardy functioning.
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