By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: The election for the post of Chairman, Shia Central Board of Waqfs (SCBW) will be held today. The election has been necessitated following the resignation of its outgoing chairman, Prof Kamaluddin Akbar.
The board has a total 13 members which include seven members while there are six others including two MPs, two MLAs and two mutawwalis are elected. However the state government has not declared any official candidate for the election. Though efforts are on to arrive at consensus over the candidature for avoiding elections.
A meeting of nominated members in this regard has been summoned at the residence of senior cabinet minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui in morning on Wednesday. However, several members are of the opinion that they will not abide by the candidate thrust upon them by the government and will go for the elections. The elections will take place at 12 noon at Bapu Bhawan in Lucknow.
Lately, the SCBW has been in a storm over the appointment of its chairman. The outgoing chairman, Prof Akbar is a close relative of eminent shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad but had to face stiff opposition which culminated in his resignation. The employees of the board are also on warpath and the offices are locked.
The state government has tried to pacify them and a meeting of the employees was held with the Principal Secretary, Muslim Welfare, BM Meena on Tuesday. It was agreed to disburse the pending 10 month salaries of the employees and appoint a chief executive officer. However, the employees are also insisting on action against two members who had allegedly misbehaved with them.
The SCBW has prominent personalities as its members including Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of BJP, Akhter Hussain Rizvi of Rizvi Builders, Mumbai, Abbas Ali Rushdie and Shadab Fatima, bother MLAs and others.