Central Waqf Council, India is an Indian statutory body established in 1964 by the Government of India under Waqf Act, 1954 for the purpose of advising it on matters pertaining to working of the State Waqf Boards and proper administration of the Waqfs in the country. Waqf is a permanent dedication of movable or immovable properties for religious, pious or charitable purposes as recognized by Muslim Law, given by philanthropists. The grant is known as mushrut-ul-khidmat, while a person making such dedication is known as Wakif.
The Council is headed by a Chairperson, who is the Union Minister in charge of Wakfs and there are maximum 20 other members, appointed by Government of India as stipulated in the Wakf Act.
State Waqf Boards
The State Waqf Boards are established by the State Governments in view of the provisions of Section 9 the Waqf Act, 1954. These work towards management, regulation and protect the Waqf properties by constituting District Waqf Committees, Mandal Waqf Committees and Committees for the individual Waqf Institutions. The Waqf Boards shall be body corporate having perpetual succession and common seal with power to acquire and hold property. In case more than fifteen percent of total number of waqf property is Shia waqf or income thereof is more than fifteen percent the Act envisages about separate Shia Waqf Board.
Presently there are thirty Wakf Boards across the country in twenty-eight states/Union territories. The State like Goa, Arunachal pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim and the UT Daman & Dieu have no wakf Board at present. the Waqf Act 1995 is not applicable to J&K. Justice Shashvat Kumar, who headed the Shashvat Committee has prepared a status report on Muslims in India in 2011 and the finding of this report were that Nationwide, wakf properties constitute a land bank worth Rs. 1.2 lakh crore and could have generated annual returns of Rs. 12,000 crore but yield only Rs. 163 crore and have found out "a severe shortage of senior government officers who are Muslim to manage wakf affairs. A separate cadre would mean officers who are not only permanent but also qualified enough". In 2011, Haryana Wakf Board has registered an all-time high income of Rs 17.03 crore during 2010–11, which is Rs 3.33 crore higher than the previous year. During 2010–11, the Board spent Rs 3.32 crore on various educational and welfare activities. The Board had earmarked Rs 6.47 crore in the budget for 2011–12 to meet the main objects of wakfs and various educational and welfare activities, he said. The central as well as state Wakf Boards have been involved in corruption, land encroachment, and misappropriation of funds. The Karnataka Wakf Board Land Scam is one such case.
