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Informist, Tuesday, Apr. 1, 2025

 

NEW DELHI - The government will bring the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Union Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Tuesday. 

 

The minister, while talking to mediapersons at Parliament House, said that the bill which seeks to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, will be taken up for consideration and passing at 1200 IST on Wednesday. The Business Advisory Committee, headed by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, has allotted eight hours for discussion on the bill, which can be further extended, the minister said. The opposition parties walked from the meeting. 

 

Earlier, the Waqf amendment bill was referred to the joint parliamentary committee, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jagdambika Pal in August, after its introduction in the Lok Sabha. The Union Cabinet on Feb. 19 had approved the recommendations of the joint parliamentary committee, paving the way for the government to bring the revised bill in Parliament.

 

Waqf is a charitable or religious donation made by Muslims for the benefit of the community. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill aims to amend the law that governs these properties, which include mosques and madrassas. The bill mandates non-Muslim members in state waqf boards and the Central Waqf Council. It further seeks to omit Section 40 of the Act, which empowered waqf boards to decide if a property was waqf property. It also seeks to streamline the registration of waqfs through a central portal and database.

 

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance has opposed the Bill and alleged that it was framed without consulting the stakeholders. Opposition leaders have called it anti-Muslim, against cooperative federalism, and politically motivated. The Opposition also alleged that the bill violates the constitutional right to freedom of religion.  End

 

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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