Andhra Pradesh   

Wakf Board tightening the purse strings

J.S. Ifthekhar

HYDERABAD: Generosity thy name is Wakf Board. Year after year this body is doling out money to meet biryani expenses of countless persons during religious congregations. Wonder how much it could be? No prizes for guessing.

Hold your breath it is Rs. 7 lakhs per annum. The two-day "jashan" (celebration) is held twice a year at a dargah in Trimulgherry.

The dargah is under direct management of the Wakf Board and as such all the expenditure is borne by it.

The spending per jashan here is of the order of Rs. 6 lakhs of which Rs. 3.5 lakhs is towards biryani alone. Of course none knows how much rice is cooked, how much mutton is bought or how many devotees partake of the `tabarruk'.

The Wakf Board releases the money without batting an eyelid.

Time for change

But all that is going to change this year. Board's special officer, Anwarul Huda, is prepared to incur the wrath of the community. "Under no circumstances the expenditure should exceed Rs. 1 lakh," he told The Hindu .

The IPS officer, who took over the board's reins eight months ago, has already gone ahead with cleaning the Augean stables. He has also put a stop to the practice of releasing advances. When he assumed office an amount of Rs. 86 lakhs taken towards advance was pending settlement.

Employees who had drawn advances were put on notice. Result -- Rs. 40 lakhs is adjusted now. Here after there will be no advances. Only bills on actual costs will be paid, he said.

Fraudulent dealings and missing files marked the Board's functioning.

Not anymore. Fiscal discipline introduced by Mr. Huda has resulted in the Board ending up with a balance of Rs. 6.40 crores.

Salary from savings

For the first time the Board is able to pay the salary of its 250-odd staff from its own savings. How has this turnaround come about? Mr. Huda has gone in for negotiation instead of litigation to make the encroachers of Wakf properties fall in line.

As a result its coffers are richer by Rs. 32 lakhs in just three months. More than 350 encroachers have become the Board's tenants.

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