Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 23 (HBTV): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while lauding the passage of the Waqf Amendment Bill on Saturday, said that no one can now rob land in the name of the Waqf Board, and that public property will be used for the welfare of the poor.

‘Now, no one can rob lands in the name of the Waqf Board... Public property and revenue lands will now be used to build schools, colleges, hospitals, or housing for the poor,’ the Chief Minister said.

He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for ensuring the passage of the bill, stating that in Uttar Pradesh, the Waqf Board had become a means to ‘illegally occupy land’.

‘I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for this because, in Uttar Pradesh, too, lakhs of acres of land had been illegally occupied in the name of the Waqf Board. It had become a means of loot for some people. Now, this looting will be curbed,’ Adityanath added.

The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha with 288 votes in favour and by the Rajya Sabha with 128 votes in favour. However, it has faced objections and protests from several Opposition parties, including the Congress and AIMIM, who have challenged it in the Supreme Court.

Earlier, Bihar Governor Arif Mohammed Khan shared his experience of dealing with land disputes related to Waqf properties.

‘When I served as a minister in UP, I handled the Waqf department for some time. All the time, I had to meet people who had property cases going on because it is a property case. What is Waqf? One says that it is not their property but Allah’s property. Waqf properties were there for the welfare of the people,’ the Bihar Governor said.

The Waqf Amendment Bill 2025, which aims to amend the 1995 Act, now awaits the assent of President Droupadi Murmu to become law. The bill was passed following two days of intense debate in both houses of Parliament.

The revised bill incorporates the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which reviewed the earlier version introduced in August last year. It seeks to improve the administration and management of Waqf properties in India by enhancing the registration process and introducing technology to better manage Waqf records.

(ANI)