New Delhi: In a massive boost to the education of minority communities, Narendra Modi government has decided to develop educational institutions on the waqf properties, which will be geo-tagged and digitised. Apart from providing 100 per cent funding to develop educational institutions on such properties, the funds would also be provided for construction of hospitals on such properties for the welfare of society. These initiatives will be taken by the minority affairs ministry, which had announced that madrassa teachers across the country will be trained in mainstream subjects so that they can impart mainstream education to the madrassa students. The ministry had recently announced that it will provide scholarships including in pre-matric, post-matric and merit-cum-means for five crore students from minority communities, including 50 per cent girls, in the next five years.    

Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was chairing the 80th meeting of the Central Waqf Council, said around 5.77 lakh registered waqf properties across the country would be geo-tagged and digitalised to ensure transparency and safety of records. The minister added that the NDA government has decided to start on a war footing the utilisation of waqf properties for educational empowerment and employment-oriented skill development of the needy, especially economically backward girls in those areas which were deprived of these facilities since Independence.

Mr Naqvi said that while only 90 districts of the country had been identified for minority communities’ development during the earlier government, the Modi government has expanded development programmes for minorities in 308 districts of the country.

A report of a five-member committee, constituted to review waqf properties lease rule, headed by Justice (Retd) Zakiullah Khan, has been submitted, which has recommended that waqf rules should be made easy and effective for better utilisation of waqf properties and to free these properties, several of which are entangled in disputes for several decades.

The Central Waqf Council is providing financial help to state waqf boards for digitalisation of waqf records so that state waqf boards can complete digitalisation work within the decided time frame.

“GIS/GPS mapping of the waqf properties has been initiated with the help of IIT Roorki and Aligarh Muslim University. The Central Waqf Council has provided video conferencing facilities to 20 state waqf boards and it would be provided in the remaining state waqf boards by the end of this year,” he said.