Joint parliamentary panel on Waqf bill to study legislation this week

The joint parliamentary panel on the Waqf Amendment Bill will hold clause-by-clause discussion on the contentious bill on January 24 and 25. The panel led by BJP MP Jagdambika Pal is expected to submit its final report on the Bill on the last day of the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament, which will commence on January 31 and culminate on April 4.

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The joint panel, which is currently touring Patna, Kolkata and Lucknow, has been holding deliberations with representatives of local Waqf boards and minority welfare departments of all the above-mentioned states and today it will be meeting representatives of the Uttar Pradesh Waqf Board and officials of the state’s minority welfare ministry in Lucknow.

Speaking to mediapersons in Kolkata on Monday, Pal said, “We are going to present the report in the Budget session.”

“The JPC has been meeting continuously for the past six months, holding meetings across the country. I am confident that we will all come to a consensus and present our report,” he added.

The Bill was referred to a joint parliamentary panel soon after it was introduced in the Lok Sabha in August 2024, as several opposition parties had objected to its contents and alleged that the Centre through the Bill wanted to control land currently under various Waqf boards.

The Centre had said its provisions were according to the recommendations of the Rajinder Sachar committee’s recommendations of 2006.

The Bill was brought by the government to bring reforms like stricter audit and other legal mechanisms in functioning and governance of Waqf boards.