The Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 convened today in New Delhi. In front of the Committee, representatives of the Telangana Waqf Board, the Zakat Foundation of India, and the Archaeological Survey of India expressed their opinions. The Lok Sabha MP Jagdambika Pal has been appointed as the Committee’s chairman. Ten members from the Rajya Sabha and twenty members from the Lok Sabha make up the committee’s thirty-one members.
The purpose of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 is to improve the effectiveness of the Waqf property management and administration by addressing its deficiencies. The Waqf Act, 1995 would now be known as the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995, according to a provision in the bill. Additionally, it outlines the duties of the Survey Commissioner to the Collector and any other official selected by the Collector for the survey of waqf properties who holds a position equal to or higher than that of Deputy Collector.
It also guarantees the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims and provides for a broad composition of the State Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council. It also calls for the representation of Shia, Sunni, Bohra, Agakhani, and other backward classes within Muslim communities, as well as the creation of a distinct Board of Waqf for Boharas and Aghakhanis. The Bill also includes provisions to restructure the Tribunal to include two members and to allow appeals of Tribunal orders to the High Court within a ninety-day window.