Cabinet clears Bill to prevent encroachment on wakf properties

The UPA Cabinet Thursday approved a standalone legislation for eviction of encroachers from wakf properties. Waqf Properties (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Bill, 2013, will now be tabled in the ensuing session of Parliament. The new Bill treats wakf properties as public premises and makes encroachment punishable by up to six months. Drawing from the Public […]

The UPA Cabinet Thursday approved a standalone legislation for eviction of encroachers from wakf properties. Waqf Properties (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Bill, 2013, will now be tabled in the ensuing session of Parliament.

The new Bill treats wakf properties as public premises and makes encroachment punishable by up to six months. Drawing from the Public Premises Act, it also empowers a designated estate officer to issue a notice to encroachers and start proceedings for their eviction. The Sachar Committee in its report had recommended that waqf properties should be treated as public premises.

There is an estimated 6 lakh acre of wakf land in the country worth Rs 1.2 lakh crore. The new legislation when passed by Parliament will be highly beneficial for the entire Muslim community as it will provide a perfect mechanism to protect the waqf properties from encroachment.

Cabinet approves changes in OBC list

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The cabinet also gave its approval to the notification of 115 changes in the central list of OBCs as recommended by the National Commission of Backward Classes. The changes include inclusion of more than 60 new castes in the central list of OBCs as recommended by the 13 states.

The states from which new castes will be eligible for the OBC quota in central jobs and educational institutions are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and the UTs of Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry.

There are also some deletions that have been proposed in the list. Those included in the list will also be eligible for benefits under various OBC schemes and scholarships. ENS

No nod to Azamgarh rally, but Owaisi plans to go ahead

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LUCKNOW: Hyderabad MP and president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Asaduddin Owaisi, has been denied permission by the district administration to address a rally at Sanjarpur in Azamgarh on February 1. Terming it a coercive measure by the SP government, Owaisi said he will go ahead with his programme. “I will address the rally in Azamgarh.

I am an elected member of the Lok Sabha and have the right to travel anywhere in the country. How can they stop me?” Owaisi said. The district administration has also denied permission to a Muslim conference which he was scheduled to attend. ENS

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