Wakf Board tightens screws on lessees

Hyderabad, Nov 9 (INN): Slowly but surely, the screws are tightening on those who had misused the Wakf Board officials lethargic attitude for their own advantage. With almost every political party and the Muslim community baying for their blood, pressure is being built on encroachers and lessees of the Wakf properties to either mend their ways or face the consequences. On Tuesday, new AP Muslim Wakf Board Chairman Maulana Syed Ghulam Afzal Biyabani, better known as Khusro Pasha, gave evidence of the changing trend by conducting spot inspections of Wakf properties at Paththergatti near Charminar. Mr Khusro Pasha had two members of the Wakf Board and senior officials in tow with him during the inspection tour.

The Wakf Board Chairman first visited the Nabikhana Moulvi Akbar Complex which is owned by the Board. The Complexs 288 shops houses wholesale clothes dealers and is considered one of the busiest markets in the city. Mr Khusro Pasha found that the shopkeepers occupying the premises were not the lessees, but in fact sub-lessees. In fact, the original lessees were supposed to pay the Wakf Board Rs 100 to Rs 280 per month per shop in rentals. The facts on the ground stated that these sub-lessees were in fact paying the lessees anything upwards of Rs 10,000 per shop per month.

The story did not end there. The original lessees, after taking the shops on lease from the Wakf Board, conveniently forgot to pay the agreed upon paltry sum, ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 280. This has resulted in the rents due to the Wakf Board mounting up to Rs 1,12,00,000. When the Wakf Board Chairman tried to talk to the sub-lessees to increase the rents, they gave vent to a plethora of problems inside the Complex, including lack of maintenance of toilets, lighting, lifts etc. Mr Khusro Pasha reminded them that these problems could be take care of, if they agreed to become the Wakf Boards lessees. Some of the lessees agreed to the proposal.

The Wakf Board team then made its way to the Anees-ul-Gurba, an orphanage at Nampally. The visit was unscheduled, catching even the officials accompanying Mr Khusro Pasha by surprise. The unscheduled visit caught the orphanage caretakers by surprise, to the extent that they could not hide the duplicate receipt books used to collect donations from unsuspecting donors.

The caretakers also could not hide the fact that the meat, meant to feed the orphans, was being diverted to various meat shops in the city. In fact, the vegetables, pulses and rice meant to feed orphans contributed to the girth around the caretakers waists. The Wakf Board team seized the account books and ordered an immediate and comprehensive inquiry into the affairs.