Waqf Bill committed to preserving Waqf properties, will be passed in Parliament in coming days: Shah
New Delhi, Sep 17: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday said the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was committed to the management and preservation of Waqf properties and would be passed in Parliament in the coming days.
At a press conference held to mark 100 days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government's third tenure, Shah said the bill would also prevent the misuse of Waqf properties.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha last month and referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament for further examination after opposition parties raised strong objections to certain provisions of the draft law.
A government official said the bill was aimed at reducing conflicts and disputes. It also has provisions for setting up of a digital platform for online registration and monitoring of Waqf properties.
Listing out the government's achievements in the first 100 days, an official said 63,000 tribal villages will be developed with an aim to improve the socio-economic status of five crore tribals.
The official said the National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) Scheme has been extended to include waste pickers along with sanitation workers, promoting their social and economic empowerment.
The official said Unique Disability Identification Cards have been issued to three lakh people with disabilities from Scheduled Tribes, including 1.17 lakh cards for individuals aged 60 years and above.
The PM-SURAJ initiative has also been expanded to grant better access to subsidized loans for livelihood activities for Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes, and sanitation workers. The Eklavya Model Residential Schools have led to enrollment of over 1.23 lakh students in 405 schools.
The government has also established 40 new schools and created smart classrooms in 110 schools for tribal students.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
