NEW DELHI, Feb. 2 -- The report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, will be presented before the Lok Sabha on Monday.

As per the List of Business, the report will be presented by Jagdambika Pal, chairman of the JPC on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, along with BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal.

The report will be presented in both Hindi and English, along with documented evidence submitted before the committee. The committee had already submitted the report to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on January 30.

The JPC adopted the draft report and the amended bill on Wednesday. The committee's proceedings were stormy, with opposition members alleging that their views were not considered by the chairman. Opposition leaders submitted dissent notes on the report.

Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain, a member of the committee, has alleged that parts of his dissent note on the bill were redacted without his knowledge.

Calling it an attempt to suppress opposition voices, Hussain posted on X, "As a member of the Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, I had submitted a detailed dissent note opposing the bill. Shockingly, parts of my dissent note have been redacted without my knowledge!"

"The Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was already reduced to a farce, but now they've stooped even lower-censoring dissenting voices of opposition MPs! What are they so scared of? Why this attempt to silence us?" he asked.

The committee had previously approved amendments to the Waqf Act, 1995, with 25 amendments across 14 clauses and sections. On Wednesday, the panel adopted its report by a majority vote, incorporating changes suggested by members of the ruling BJP. This prompted the opposition to label the exercise an attempt to dismantle Waqf boards.

The Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill adopted the report on the draft legislation by a 15-11 majority vote.

The Waqf Act of 1995 regulates Waqf properties and has been criticised for issues such as mismanagement and encroachments.

The Waqf (Amendment)

Bill, 2024, seeks to introduce reforms, including digitisation, enhanced audits, and legal mechanisms to reclaim occupied properties.

Opposition members submitted dissent notes on the report, while BJP members insisted that the bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha in August last year, aims to bring modernity, transparency, and accountability to the management of Waqf properties.

On the other hand, the opposition has termed it an attack on the constitutional rights of the Muslim community and interference in the functioning of Waqf boards.As part of the legislative business, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to introduce a bill to establish the Institute of Rural Management Anand as a university, to be known as Tribhuvan Sahkari University, and to declare it an institution of national importance.

The university will provide technical and management education and training in the cooperative sector, promote cooperative research and development, and strive for global excellence in line with the vision of Sahkar Se Samriddhi. It aims to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country through a network of institutions.

The Lok Sabha will also take up the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, which was delivered to both Houses of Parliament assembled together on January 31, the opening day of the Budget session.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.