Government announces annual awards to Waqf mutawallis

New Delhi: Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday announced annual awards to 'mutawallis' for taking care of Waqf properties, thus ensuring their utilisation for betterment of the society.

He said such properties across the country should be utilised for educational, employment, skill development and health-related activities.

Waqf properties are the ones dedicated to the society. These are religious endowments in Islam, typically devoting a structure or parcel of land for charitable purposes.

The central government will award those mutawallis (caretakers) who will manage well such (Waqf) properties to ensure their utilisation for betterment of the society, especially for educational empowerment of girls, a statement quoted the Union minister as saying.

He was speaking at the first national mutawallis conference of the Central Waqf Council (CWC) here.

Waqf mutawallis from Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand attended the conference. Such conferences will be organised in other parts of the country in the coming days.

Naqvi said protection and development of such properties was on priority for the Centre so that these are utilised for socio-economic-educational empowerment of Muslim community.

He said the CWC was providing financial help to state waqf boards for digitisation of waqf records so they could complete the work within a stipulated time-frame.

Two legal support officers and as many zonal waqf officers and surveyors will be appointed by the CWC in the state waqf boards for preservation, maintenance and development of such properties and the related legal matters, the minister said.

The BJP leader said the Council will also help those institutes being established and those already running Waqf properties, and were engaged in educational activities especially for girls.