Top government officials appear before Parliament's Waqf panel

The Parliamentary panel examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was on Thursday apprised of the Waqf properties in the national capital region and those on the land parcels belonging to the ministries of road transport and railways. Urban Affairs and Road Transport Secretary Anurag Jain and Anil Kumar Khandelwal, Member Infrastructure, Railway Board, along with the officials from the respective ministries made presentations to the Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.

The officials of the Urban Affairs Ministry briefed the panel on the land acquisition process undertaken by the then British government in 1911 to build the city of Delhi.

Parliamentary sources said there were heated moments during the meeting when the officials of the Urban Affairs Ministry were unable to respond to questions from members on the land acquisition process undertaken by the British administration.


"There were also attempts to suppress certain information," claimed an opposition member of the Committee chaired by BJP member Jagadambika Pal.

Parliamentary sources said DMK member A. Raja pointed out that a Waqf Act was passed in 1913 and there was no mention of it in the presentation by the Urban Affairs Ministry about it.

According to the presentation by the ministry, the Waqf Board made claims between 1970 and 1977 on 138 properties that were acquired for building New Delhi by the British government.

A total of 341 sq km of land was acquired to build the national capital region and due compensation was paid to the affected persons, a claim that was contested by the members.

The members also wanted the government to ascertain whether the claims by the Waqf Board on properties in Delhi were made after following the due process laid down in the Waqf Act of 1954.