The Karnataka State Board of Wakfs (KSBW) has, on many occasions, been in the news for the wrong reasons, including failure to take action against encroachments upon Wakf properties and misuse of funds
In general, improper management is the primary charge against the board.
The sorry state of the official website of the board is the latest embarrassment.
If one logs onto >www.karwakf.org , the official website of the board, the information made available is unclear, ambiguous and misleading.
The website has 22 main links offering information. However, several of them, Announcements, Highlights, Wakf Rules and Survey, are blank.
Under Wakf Institutions, it mentions that there are Wakf institutions are in 17 districts of the State. However, Bijapur, Gulbarga and Bidar find no place despite the fact that these districts have numerous Wakf properties.
The website has a link to ‘Wakf Institutions with annual income’, with a sub-link, ‘Abstract of annual income of Wakf properties (district-wise)’. It has a list of 1,590 Wakf properties without mentioning the annual income.
Under ‘Formats’ there are six sub-links. The sixth is ‘Statement showing budget allocation’. It shows different heads of accounts, various schemes and funds allocated. It mentions the quantum of funds released, but it is not clear whether it is in lakh or crore rupees.
The website gives details of meetings of the District Advisory Committee held in 2008, but has no information on any meeting held after 2008.
When contacted, Chief Executive Officer of the board Ibrahim Adoor he said that he had directed the officials concerned to update the website. He, however, said he had no knowledge whether the instruction was carried out or not. “I will check it,” he replied.
