By Mohd. Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net,
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh State Wakf Board has sought an enhancement in the grant-in-aid of Rs. 12 crore in the budget for year 2012-13. Last year, the government released a mere Rs. 37.5 lakh against the budget estimate of Rs. 1.50 crore. The Board has also demanded to fill up the vacancies for the efficient administrative functioning of the Wakf properties worth Rs thousands of crore.
Board chairman Syed Ghulam Afzal Biabani, along with the Minorities Welfare Minister Syed Ahmedullah, met with Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and requested for increase in the budget allocation.
Mr. Biabani presented the grievances to the chief minister and said that during the last two years, there was no budgetary allocation for repair, maintenance and protection of wakf institutions, repair of mosques and revolving fund for development of wakf institutions.
Citing the case of Karnataka, he told the chief minister that the government there was extending Rs. 5 crore annually for remuneration to mosque caretakers besides administrative grant for wakf board employees. Mr. Biabani urged the CM to grant a similar amount to the Wakf Board here. He wanted Rs. 1 crore grant towards assistance to divorced Muslim women.
He further put forward the fact that there was no increase in the present staff strength of 239 since 1996, while the work load in the past 10 years has increased to manifolds. The lack of work force in the wakf board office is forcing the present employees to work on Sundays to clear the pending files. He demanded that the state Government should sanction 68 additional posts in various cadres. The Chief Minister was also requested to implement pension scheme to the Wakf Board employees.