By Admin 
Waqf amendment bill in rajya sabha: The Rajya Sabha approved the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025 with several important provisions, including increasing transparency in the Waqf Board on Thursday (3 April), by 128 votes against 95 after a long discussion. Regarding this bill, the government claimed that this will help a lot in improving the condition of women of this community along with the poor and Pasmanda Muslims of the country.
Along with this, Parliament approved the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and the Muslim Waqf (Relations) Bill, 2024. The Lok Sabha passed it at around 2 pm on Wednesday (2 April). At the same time, the Upper House rejected many amendments brought by the opposition.
13 hours debate on Waqf Bill in Rajya Sabha
Responding to the discussion on the bill for more than 13 hours, Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that in 2006, 4.9 lakh Waqf assets were in the country and the total income from them was only Rs 163 crore, while even after changing in 2013, the income increased only three crore rupees. He said that today there are a total of 8.72 lakh Waqf assets in the country.
He said that the bill has a provision for Mutavalli, its administration and monitoring on it. Rijiju said, “In any way the government does not manage the Waqf property and does not interfere in it.”
The misconceptions being spread about the bill, all baseless- Rijiju
He said that through this bill, there will be no intervention of anyone other than Muslims in Waqf matters and whatever misconceptions are being spread about this, they are baseless. He said that according to the report of JPC, the government has made several changes in the bill, including an officer above the District Magistrate to investigate the government land declared as Waqf.
He said that during the discussion on the bill, many members raised the question of how and who would decide that this person is a Muslim. He said that it is as if it is decided what the religion is, so will it be decided in this matter.
Previous governments did not do any work about this
Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that many opposition members said that many Muslims in the country are poor. He said that everyone knows who ruled most of the time in the country and they did nothing to overcome the poverty of Muslims. He said that if the previous governments had done this work, today the Narendra Modi government would not have to take all this measures.
The job of the Charity Commissioner will have to be monitored only
Rijiju said that the work of which the charity commissioner has been arranged in the Bill, its job is only to see if the Waqf Board and the land coming under it are being managed properly or not. He said that through this, the government and the Waqf Board will not interfere in any religious functioning of any religious institution including the mosque. He said that in the new bill, members of all the concerns of Islam will be placed in the Waqf Board. He said that the intention of the government is to make this bill inclusive.
Law will have a new name after passing
The minister said that the law to be implemented after the passage of this bill has been given the new name ‘Asha’ (Unified Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency and Development) Act, which should not object to anyone. He clarified that if the solution to the case related to the Waqf has gone out, then the provisions of this bill will not apply to such cases but if a case is under consideration in court, nothing can be done for it.
He said that due to better management of properties under the Waqf Board, the provisions of this bill will help the poor Muslims of the country and will help in their upliftment.
The Minister of Minority Affairs said that the bill provides that if a person wants to wake up his land, then the widow or divorced woman or the property with the rights of the Yatim children will not be walked into it.
ASI The monument under the memorial will no longer be declared Waqf- Kiren
He advised the opposition to stop misleading people about this bill. He said that apart from this, monuments or lands under National Property or Archaeological Survey (ASI) will not be declared as Waqf property.
He said that today more than 31 thousand cases related to Waqf are pending, so the Waqf Tribunal has been strengthened.
Appeal can be made in civil courts
Rijiju said that the bill provides for the right to appeal. He said that if the person feels that he has not got justice in the Waqf Tribunal, then he can appeal in civil courts.
Who will be included in the council
He said that there will be 22 members in the Central Waqf Parishad. There will be no more than four non-Muslim members. It will have three Members of Parliament (MPs), 10 members of the Muslim community, two former judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court, an advocate at the national level, four people renowned in various fields, the additional secretary of the Government of India and Joint Secretary. He said that it is necessary to have two women in the 10 members of the Muslim community.
Who will be members in the State Waqf Board
Rijiju said that the State Waqf Board will have 11 members. There will be no more than three non -Muslim members of them, one of whom will be ex -officio members. The board will have a chairman, an MP, an MLA, 4 Muslim community members, two members with professional experience, a member of the Bar Council and the Joint Secretary of the State Government. Two of the four members of the Muslim community will be women.
Apart from this, according to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, the Waqf Tribunal will be strengthened, a systematic selection process and the competent dispute will be the prescribed tenure for the disposal process. According to the provisions of the Bill, the decisions of the tribunal can be challenged through civil suit.
Provision of a centralized portal
According to its provisions, the compulsory contribution made by Waqf institutions to the Waqf Board has been reduced from seven percent to five percent. Waqf institutions with income more than one lakh rupees will have to get state sponsored audit. The bill provides for a centralized portal, which will help the Waqf management to operate efficiently and transparently. It also provides that (at least up to five years), ‘Practicing Muslims’ will be able to wow their property.
The bill also provides that the property will be given their inheritance to women before declaring the property and special provisions have been made for widow, divorced women and orphans. It has been proposed that an officer of the rank above from the District Magistrate will investigate the government land declared Waqf.