Chandigarh, Sep 22 (IANS): After quashing the Haryana Waqf Board, the BJP-JJP combine Haryana government has issued Haryana Waqf Rules of 2021. Also most of its properties have been digitalized, a step towards transparency and integrity of land data.

The rules pertain to appointment of chief executive and members of the Board, besides removal of encroachment from Waqf properties.

The government had in August last year quashed the Haryana Waqf Board and had appointed former MLA Zakir Hussain as its administrator.

Currently, the board is managing 12,505 properties across the state.

An official told IANS on Thursday that to check encroachments the Haryana Waqf Board has done GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping of its properties.

Most of the Waqf properties are in Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal, Mewat, Kurukshetra, Ambala and Yamunanagar districts, have been covered and almost most of them have been mapped and given unique identity code.

The mapping helps stopping encroachments, besides checking misappropriation and preventing neglect.

Most of the complaints were earlier relating to misuse of purpose of the property. Like a property was leased out for agriculture purposes, but it was being used for residential or business purposes.

"After the GIS mapping, the misuse of Waqf properties has been almost negligible," added the official.

The government had recently appointed former INLD MLA Zakir Hussain as Waqf Board administrator.

Hussain had joined the BJP just before the 2019 Assembly elections and had unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly polls.