False propaganda by UP government on minority welfare: Najma Heptulla

LUCKNOW: Union Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla today accused the Uttar Pradesh government of indulging in false propaganda of minority welfare and said she would be forced to stage a dharna if it does not provide details of Waqf properties in the state.

"SP government is indulging in a false propaganda of minority welfare. It is not cooperating in education, employment and technical development works being done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi government," she alleged while talking to the reporters here.

She said neither Azam Khan, the State Waqf board minister, nor his officers attend the meeting of National Waqf Council. They don't even reply to the letters, she claimed.

The minister said they do not even give utilisation certificates of funds allocated by the Centre for minority welfare, which blocks the release of further funds.

Heptulla said UP Waqf Board was not providing details of Waqf properties of around Rs 15 lakh crore. This way, the properties, which could have been used for the welfare of minorities, were being exploited by the persons patronised by the state government, she said.

She said that if Waqf department of UP does not provide details of the properties, she would be forced to stage a dharna here.

The Union Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi doubled the corpus fund of Minority Finance Development Corporation from Rs 1500 crore to Rs 3000 crore, which was pending in UPA government's regime.