The third meeting of the JPC on the Waqf Amendment Bill lasted for over 8 hours and over 7 lakh suggestions were received in 3 days.

The third meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Amendment Bill was held on Thursday. The meeting lasted for about 8.30 hours at the Parliament premises. Since the advertisement on September 2, 7 lakh memorandums have been received by email so far. In this, people across the country have expressed their opinion regarding the Waqf Amendment Bill. Over 200 written suggestions have been received in last 3 to 4 days. Railway Board Chairman, Surface Transport Department Secretary, Housing Department Secretary etc. attended this meeting. For the first three-and-a-half hours of the meeting, railway officials presented their views. Over the next three and a half hours, the Secretaries of Surface Transport and Housing and Urban Affairs presented their views. Railway officials told the committee that the Railways has a dispute with the WAF Board over seven large properties in the country. Opposition MPs including JPC asked several questions to the Railway Board Chairman. 4 lakh 33 thousand hectares of land is available for railways in the country. Only 0.17 percent of the land is in dispute with the WAF Board. Meanwhile, the ruling party M.P. said about the houses built on the Haldwani railway line. A heated argument broke out between ruling party and opposition MPs over railway land encroachment in Haldwani. In this, Azazuddin Owaisi, Kalyan Banerjee and some Congress MPs raised their voices. Dispute with Ministry of Road Transport over 8 properties: The secretary of the Ministry of Road Transport told the committee that there is a dispute between the Waqf and the Ministry over about 8 properties. At the same time, the housing development secretary said there was a dispute between the DDA and the Waqf Board over a total of 138 properties in Delhi. 123 out of 138 were reported as popular properties at the meeting. All the three ministries of the Union Government – Railways, Road Transport and Urban Development – have expressed their views in favor of the Waqf Amendment Bill. On Friday, a joint parliamentary committee summoned officials from the Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India before the committee. On Friday, the committee has invited members of two stakeholder bodies, the Zakat Foundation and the Telangana Waqf Board, who will present their views before the committee. A meeting of the Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was held under my chairmanship! In the meeting, oral evidence was taken from representatives of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India and the Ministry. Railways, Government of India 'Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024'. All India Sunni Jammiatul Ulema told the JBC meeting.