Lucknow, Feb. 8 -- Only around 4,000 of the 132,000 properties claimed as Waqf assets in Uttar Pradesh qualify under guidelines fixed by the state government, principal secretary, revenue, P Guruprasad has said, with the rest being public properties that belong to or are controlled by the government.
The senior bureaucrat's claim, which means that 97% of the properties currently believed to be Waqf in Uttar Pradesh are actually property of the state or commons land, is a test case for one of the biggest concerns around the Waqf (Amendment) Bill - the treatment of what is called "Waqf by user". It also highlights the poor titling and documentation of land and properties in general, and Waqf land and properties specifically.
"During the exa...