—Special Correspondent
TNW, Patna, June 14: Bihar state Shia Waqf board has taken multiple initiatives for the accessibility of education among minority community in Bihar. The board is pooling its resources to facilitate affordable education to the lower strata of the community. If successful, it would fulfill one of the prime objectives behind the endowments (Waqf) of these properties.
“At the moment, the board’s thrust is on widening the educational avenues of the community. We have taken several steps in this regard: scholarships for students, provisions of free admission of poor community children in the private schools which are running on waqf’s plots and providing land to Bihar government for opening residential minority schools are few of them. We have been working on many other such initiatives so as to utilise the waqf properties to achieve the objective”, Irshad Ali Azad, Chairman shia Waqt Board speaking on the phone to the TheNewsWeb said.
Land for minority residential schools
The Board is providing land to the state government in districts to establish residential schools for boys and girls belonging to the community. Bihar government has proposed to run at least one such school in each districts on the model of Navoday Vidhyala, where meritorious students get quality education. These schools will run for secondary and higher secondary level, i. e., 9th to 12th standard.
The process of handing over the land has been completed in Siwan, Muzaffarpur, Purnea, Nalanda, Shekhpura, Katihar, Kishanganj, Jamui, Sitamarhi and Bhagalpur districts.
Scholarships
The Board’s income is being spent on various welfare schemes: offering scholarship to the needy students is one of them. For example, more that 40% of 1.6 crore income from Fazal Imam trust, Fraser road, Patna is allocated for the deserving students pursuing technical/ professional education.
Free schooling
Recently, in a land dispute with a capital’s well known school, court pronounced the verdict in the favour of Shia Waqt Board. After getting its land right accepted, the board made an agreement of lease with the same school on condition that 100 poor minority students gets free education in it every academic year. Similarly, other private schools which are running on the land of the Board, have agreed to induct certain number of poor minority children, either free or, on nominal fee.
The organisation is keen to provide it’s land on lease to quality educational institutions so that more and more community children can avail the opportunity of learning, board officials said.
Previously, the board has been in limelight for winning the legal battles against occupations on its properties which includes more than 2500 crore worth prime plots at Dackbanglow in the state capital Patna. It is on these very plots some of the capitals top businesses and organisations such as Central Mall, Zero one Mall, Kaushalaya estate, Times of India buildings, Rizwan palace are situated.
Shia Waqf board has won more than sixty legal cases since Irshad Ali Azad took over as chairman in late 2015.
