The employees of the Telangana Waqf Board, which takes care of the Waqf properties, have not been paid their December salaries. Waqf is a form of donation given by the minority group of Muslims. The donation can be in the form of monetary contribution or a house/ property.
It has been reported that in the absence of Abdul Hameed, CEO, Telangana Waqf Board, no one else is authorised to sign the salary cheques.
From 16 December, Hameed has been on a long leave and all the activities of the Board have been stalled ever since.
On 28 December, the Government ordered Shah Nawaz Qasim, director, Minority Welfare, to take this additional charge, but a disinterested Qasim has failed to take up the post.
It has been further reported that the employees have no other option left but to take up loans to meet their regular monthly expenses.
This is not the first time that the salaries have been delayed. Earlier this year, in July, the salaries were delayed when Hameed had questioned whether it was possible for Mohammed Saleem, board chairman, to continue in the post after his term as MLC had ended. Later, when the issue was sorted out, the employees had received two months’ salaries. At the time, the salaries released for 8,013 imams and muezzins amounted to about Rs 8,01,30,000, whereas for board employees it amounted to about Rs 78 lakh.
