Waqf Board suspends staff members over mismanagement at Hazratbal

Srinagar: The Waqf Board of Jammu and Kashmir has suspended all staff members at Dargah Hazratbal over what it termed as mismanagement.

Officials said that following complaints of mismanagement from devotees, the action was taken by the Waqf authorities.

In this regard, the Waqf board issued an order of suspension to all concerned officers and ground staff at Dargah Hazratbal.

“During the surprise visit of the Chairperson J&K Waqf Board (Minister of State, J&K) Dr Syed Darakhshan Andrabi on the eve of Eid-ul-Milad-un-Nabi (SAW), to review the arrangements at Hazratbal Dargah Sharief in view of the complaints received from the public quarters, it was found that grave negligence of the concerned staff of the Waqf Board deputed at the shrine has created a lot of inconvenience to the devotees,” read the order issued by Waqf Board.

The order further states that “this irresponsible attitude has been viewed seriously by the Hon’ble Chairperson. Despite the repeated orders and instructions from the office of the Chairperson, all the concerned officers and the ground staff have failed to provide adequate requisite facilities to the devotees during the festival congregations. In view of the above, as directed by the Hon’ble Chairperson, all the concerned officers and the staff members of Hazratbal Dargah Sharief have been placed under suspension with immediate effect for the grave negligence in their duties,” the orders further reads.

As per the order, an inquiry team headed by Chairperson Waqf Board has been constituted to probe into the issue to fix the responsibility for the “grave irresponsible behavior of the staff on duty officers.”