Waqf Amendment Bill 2024: JPC to engage stakeholders in upcoming meetings

JPC Chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal. File Pic

The Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for the Waqf Amendment Bill, Jagdambika Pal, on Monday announced that a series of meetings will be held on November 4 and 5 to discuss the Waqf Board Amendment Bill. These sessions aim to gather insights from a diverse array of stakeholders, including Islamic scholars, former judges, SC and HC lawyers, and minority organisations, reported news agency ANI.

"When the resolution for the Joint Parliamentary Committee was brought by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, he said that he wanted to refer it to the JPC so that we could call more and more stakeholders, intellectuals, Islamic scholars, former judges, lawyers of the Supreme Court and high court, minority organisations," JPC Chairman Pal said while speaking to ANI.

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Pal stated that the JPC will engage with representatives from organisations like Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, as well as Dawoodi and Vohra communities, to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the bill. "We have a meeting on November 4 and 5. We have called Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, intellectual women. We have called other organisations on November 5, Dawoodi, Vohra. We will meet various stakeholders on Nov 4 and 5," added the JPC Chairman.

"I think that all members of the JPC must take the Waqf bill into consideration, know all the aspects and then make a detailed report out of it," Pal told ANI.

A previous JCP meeting on October 28 had already included discussions with groups such as Call for Justice (Group led by Chander Wadhwa, Trustee), the Waqf Tenant Welfare Association, Delhi and Harbans Dunkall, President, Residents Welfare Association (All Blocks), B.K. Dutt Colony, New Delhi, a proactive approach to collecting feedback. The meeting was chaired by the JCP Chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal.

The Waqf Act of 1995, which regulates waqf properties, has faced criticism over issues of mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments. The proposed Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeks to implement significant reforms, including digitisation, enhanced auditing, greater transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties.

Through these meetings, the JPC is committed to gathering input from government officials, legal experts, Waqf Board members, and community representatives from various states and Union Territories, aiming for the most effective reform possible.

(With inputs from ANI)