THURSDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
In an important decision, the State Information Commission has put all the Waqf properties in Uttarakhand under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI). There are 2200 Waqf properties in the State worth millions of rupees.
The State Information Commissioner (SIC) Yogesh Bhatt has directed that all the properties under the management of Waqf board will be under RTI and said that they should prepare manuals under the section IV of the RRI within six months. He said that a procedure of providing information directly from the Waqf management concerned or the board should be set in place. The information commission has dispatched copies of the order to the minorities welfare department and the general administration department also.
It is worth mentioning here that 2200 properties are registered under the Uttarakhand Waqf board. Under the Waqf act -1995 the Board has control over these properties but the management of these properties always shied away from having a transparent system. The appointments of Public Information Officers (PIO) were also not done by the Waqf managements.
The issue was taken up by the advocate Danish Siddhiqui. In July 2022 he sought information under RTI about some works in the world famous Piran Kaliyar shrine from the Waqf board. In the reply he was informed that the information cannot be given since there is no PIO in Piran Kaliyar shrine. The issue came up before the SIC Bhatt who directed the officers of Waqf board to clear things on the issue. The board said that all the properties are under its control and it can undertake their inspection. It was found that all the Waqf properties are under the government. Bhatt sought reply from the former and present chief executive officer (CEO) of the board and directed that the management of the Piran Kaliyar shrine should be under the RTI act. Following the order appointment of PIO has been made in Piran Kaliyar.
Bhatt has now ordered to put all the Waqf properties in the State under the ambit of RTI act.
