By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net,
Kolkata: After honorarium to the Imam and Muazzin, West Bengal Government has taken a special initiative to help disadvantageous widow and divorcee Muslim women. The honorarium to the poor widow and divorcee Muslims would be provided through the state Waqf Board, informed the Chairman of the Waqf Board, Justice Md Abdul Ghani.
The Panchayat election is just round the corner, and this new intiative may help build goodwill amongst Muslim voters in favour of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress (TMC).
Few months ago, Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee had declared that the honorarium of Rs. 2500 will be given to the imams of mosques each month and a sum of Rs 1000 per month for the Muazzin.
The honorarium will be given from the special funds of the Chief Minister, but it would be delivered through State Waqf Board. Banerjee also holds the additional charge of minority affairs and madrasah education.
Justice Abdul Ghani also informed that so far more than 29000 Imams and 24000 Muazzains have submitted their application for the honorarium.
Although no fixed allocation has been made yet, but he explained that the state Waqf Board will be the nodal agency for the distribution of those honorariums. He also said that those Muslim women, who are widow or divorcee and whose annual income is not more than Rs 18000 they will be eligible to submit their applications for the remuneration.
This is for the first time in the country that the state waqf board will be distributing honorarium to poor Muslim widows and divorcees.
Application for the honorarium will be available at the state Waqf Board office, , 6/2 Madan Stree, Kolkata-700072 upto 4th April, 2013.
Divorcee women will also have to submit a copy of the Talaknama, and widows will have to furnish supporting documents from the local authority.
According to Justice Ghani, based on number of the applications received, the amount of the honorarium will be fixed.