ISB, MS, Wipro under Wakf scanner
Andhra Minority Welfare Department demands rent from offices, institutions located on board property.
By Roli Srivastava, TNN |
HYDERABAD: Hitherto it was only MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi who used to, in every session of the Assembly, mandatorily raise the issue of biggies like Indian School of Business and Microsoft being located on land owned by the Wakf Board. But now, Owaisi has a taker in at least one section of the state government.
The minority welfare department of the AP government has written to the revenue department and the district collector that institutions and companies such as ISB, Microsoft, Wipro, Lanco, Gems and Jewellery Park and Maulana Azad Urdu University are located on Wakf property and they should, therefore , cough up an annual ground rent for use of the land.
The minorities welfare department’s letter contends that the board should be compensated at the ‘prevailing market rate’ if its land has been used to set up the institutions and offices. Any land belonging to the board but lying vacant should be returned to it, the letter further states.
If given effect, the Wakf Board’s annual income may see a manifold jump from the present few crores to hundreds of crores.
Analysts, however, feel the move will generate a lot of heat. “The state gave the land saying it was government land. How can it now contend that it is Wakf land?” an analyst wondered. “The matter will certainly go to court.”
The minority welfare department , along with the board , has also started mulling over the dynamics of charging rent. In one option, a lease agreement for a given number of years will be entered into wherein the board will get a lease amount at regular intervals from the institutions or companies. The other option will be a one-time compensation from them.
The board has written to the district collector to consider Wakf land transactions, which did not involve the board, as null and void.
An official said there were several properties that belonged to the board apart from the offices of the handful of big companies.
The minority welfare department of the AP government has written to the revenue department and the district collector that institutions and companies such as ISB, Microsoft, Wipro, Lanco, Gems and Jewellery Park and Maulana Azad Urdu University are located on Wakf property and they should, therefore , cough up an annual ground rent for use of the land.
The minorities welfare department’s letter contends that the board should be compensated at the ‘prevailing market rate’ if its land has been used to set up the institutions and offices. Any land belonging to the board but lying vacant should be returned to it, the letter further states.
If given effect, the Wakf Board’s annual income may see a manifold jump from the present few crores to hundreds of crores.
Analysts, however, feel the move will generate a lot of heat. “The state gave the land saying it was government land. How can it now contend that it is Wakf land?” an analyst wondered. “The matter will certainly go to court.”
The minority welfare department , along with the board , has also started mulling over the dynamics of charging rent. In one option, a lease agreement for a given number of years will be entered into wherein the board will get a lease amount at regular intervals from the institutions or companies. The other option will be a one-time compensation from them.
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Also, the price at which the properties were sold to the companies will have to be paid to the board. “Some Wakf land was given (by district collectors ) to the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation , which, in turn, sold it to organisations at the market rate. This amount too should come to the Wakf board,” said an official. The board has written to the district collector to consider Wakf land transactions, which did not involve the board, as null and void.
An official said there were several properties that belonged to the board apart from the offices of the handful of big companies.
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