Waqf amendment bill 2025: The atmosphere has been heated in the country regarding the Waqf Bill amendment. Regarding this, the parties and the opposition have divided into two parts. A report has been released on this matter, which gives information about the Waqf properties present in the country. India’s 39 lakh acres of land, ie 4.8 percent of the total 812 lakh acres of the country, is under Waqf boards only. This land is more than 30 lakh acres of India’s security forces (17.99 lakh acres) and Railways (12.11 lakh acres).
Waqf is a property that is donated for religious or charitable works under Islamic law. Once it is prohibited to sell, move or use the property given in the Waqf, as this property is considered safe in the name of Allah. According to the data related to the Waqf Board in the country, there was 18 lakh acres of land in the year 2013. After that, after just 12 years, in 2025, this figure increased by 39 lakhs. It saw an increase of 21 lakh acres in this.
Controversy over Waqf properties
The main reason for controversies about Waqf properties is how and on which grounds they were declared Waqf. The biggest controversy has been Section 40 of the Waqf Act 1995, which gave the final decisive right to the Waqf Tribunal. The Waqf Amendment Bill brought in 2025 which is now being called the Expectation Bill. Out of that, Section 40 was abolished. Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju termed it as the most rigorous provision and alleged that the properties were declared arbitrarily vaqf. According to the government, out of 8.72 lakh Waqf properties, 4.02 lakh are such that Waqf was declared on the basis of long -term religious use. This means that any property, even if private, if there is religious activity for years, then it can be converted into Waqf.
Waqf land from big cities of India
When we compare Waqf land to major cities of India, it is known that Waqf has as much land as the total area of ​​the 13 largest cities of the country is equal to.
City area (lakh acres)
Delhi 3.60
Mumbai 1.50
Bengaluru 2.20
Chennai 1.00
Hyderabad 1.70
Kolkata 1.20
Pune 1.275
Ahmedabad 1.31
A total of 13.785 lakh acres, while the Waqf land is 39 lakh acres – that is, about three times the total area of ​​all these cities.
Management of Waqf properties
The management of Waqf properties in India is very complex and multi -level. In this, many people work to manage the Waqf properties. Mutavalli plays in this. It is the person who manages physical and financially of Waqf property. He reports to the board and ensures the use of property according to Islamic rules. There are 32 states Waqf Board in India and there is a Central Waqf Council on them which gives policy -related suggestions.