JPC sittings on Waqf bill to commence today in Delhi

New Delhi [India], January 24 : The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill of 2024 is set to hold its sittings in Delhi today, a notice issued by Lok Sabha secretariat read.
According to the notice signed by Director Sanjay Sethi, the sittings of the JPC on Waqf will commence from 11:00 AM and will go on till 3:30 PM today, with an hour of lunch break. In the main committee room of the Parliament House Annexe, the JPC members will hear the views or suggestions of cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq of Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema, Jammu and Kashmir.
From 2:00 in the afternoon, the JPC members will hear suggestions of 'Lawyers for Justice' on the Waqf (Amendment Bill) of 2024.
Moreover, another sitting of the JPC has been scheduled for January 27, starting from 11:00 in the morning, where the committee members will meet and discuss the clauses one by one.
After holding a meeting on Tuesday in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, Jagdambika Pal, Chairman of the JPC said that it will be the last meeting of the JPC and after this, they will present its report in the Parliament during the budget session, scheduled for January 31.
"The JPC is a committee with members from different parties. All discussions have taken place in a good environment. I am hopeful that we will provide a report that will benefit the people in the coming days. In the last six months, we have held 34 meetings in Delhi alone. I thank all the MPs who attended all these meetings. I believe it will be a very good report, and based on it, a good law will be made to ensure that Waqf properties are used for their intended purposes," Pal said.
Meanwhile, DMK Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha, A Raja, on behalf of the Opposition, has requested the Chairman of the JPC on the Waqf Amendment Bill to postpone the proposed meetings scheduled for January 24 and 25.
In his letter to Jagdamika Pal, Raja said, "It is needless to say that the tour programmes of the JPC to meet the stakeholders at Patna, Kolkata and Lucknow were completed only on January 21 and the members were dispersed from the tour programme to their constituency to continue their scheduled programmes earlier."
"Strangely, the next dates for the sitting of JPC were hurriedly announced without any formal discussion when the JPC was already on tour," he mentioned.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill is to submit its report during the budget session. The term of the committee was extended during the winter session of Parliament.
The Waqf Act of 1995, enacted to regulate Waqf properties, has long been criticised for issues such as mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments.
Notably, the budget session of Parliament will commence on January 31 and continue till April 4, with the union budget to be presented on February 1.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, aims to address these challenges by introducing reforms such as digitisation, enhanced audits, improved transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties.