Mohsin Raza demands audit of Waqf Boards

Lucknow: Former Uttar Pradesh minister Mohsin Raza on Thursday alleged large-scale irregularities in the management of Shia and Sunni Waqf properties during the previous govt's tenure, claiming the alleged scam could run into thousands of crores of rupees.Raza claimed that Uttar Pradesh should have nearly two lakh Waqf properties, but official records account for only around 1.27 lakh. He alleged that thousands of properties either disappeared from the records or were illegally occupied. He further alleged that audits of the Waqf Boards were not conducted for nearly two decades and that officials failed to cooperate with auditors whenever scrutiny was initiated.He claimed that Waqf properties in districts including Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Meerut, Ayodhya, Agra, Prayagraj and Varanasi were affected by encroachments, adding that several commercial establishments in Lucknow allegedly came up on Waqf land.Raza demanded a comprehensive audit of all Waqf properties under Section 47C of the Waqf Act, the constitution of district-level committees to verify assets, and the recovery of properties found to be illegally occupied. He also proposed including two Hindu members in the reconstituted Shia and Sunni Waqf Boards to enhance transparency.His allegations have not been independently verified, and there was no immediate response from the opposition parties or the Waqf Boards.