"We have sat for more than 100 hours till now": BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024

Bhubaneswar: BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi, a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, on Monday emphasized the committee's commitment to respecting every opinion and ideology on the bill. The JPC has been working diligently, with over 100 hours of discussion and 25 sittings since August this year and till now has sat for more than 100 hours with 146 organizations.
The committee has invited various stakeholders, including 195 organizations from across the country, to share their views on the bill . Sarangi highlighted that the JPC aims to listen to all perspectives, with a focus on transparency and comprehensive reform.
Aparajita Sarangi said, "We have sat for more than 100 hours till now. And during these 100 hours in these 25 sittings, we have been able to listen to a huge number of organizations. 195 organizations from all over the country, from different states, wanted to speak before us and put forth their views. Out of these 195, 146 organizations have come so far and have put forth their views before the Joint Parliamentary Committee... Once we take all the concerns, all the views, then we will be shaping the Bill and we will be presenting before the Lok Sabha Speaker."
She said that the JPC was constituted by the Speaker of Lok Sabha Om Birla on August 9, 2024 and the first meeting of the committee was held on August 22, 2024.
"95 lakh eighty-six thousand suggestions have come either through courier or e-mail or in person have reached the committee. Every application is being considered very carefully by JPC. We are going from state to state and listening to state government officials. Many views are in favour of the 44 Amendments that we are proposing, many views are against the 44 Amendments to the principle Waqf Act of 1995. Exercise is being done in a democratic manner," she said.
Sarangi further said that two days ago the JPC was in Guwahati.
"The state government of Assam has fully supported all the 44 Amendments. Today entire day hearing will go on in Bhubaneswar. We are expecting 13 organisations would be coming and deposing before the committee. Around 100 individuals will come," she added.
Earlier the Chairman of the JPC Jagdambika Pal said that 16 delegations have expressed their desire to appear before the committee today.
Pal said, "Today also JPC will meet in Bhubaneswar, in which 16 delegations have expressed their desire to appear before the JPC, which includes High Court lawyers, Islamic scholars, Odisha government officials, various social and minority organizations. I hope good suggestions will come and the entire JPC will consider them. We have covered Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, now we have to cover Lucknow, Patna, Kolkata."
Reacting to the opposition boycotting the JPC panel's study tour he said that the purpose of JPC meetings in the states is to give suggestions on Amendment and to listen to them.
"They are coming in large numbers. This is not a matter of politics. If the JPC is meeting all stakeholders and has done 25 meetings in Delhi and travelling to states ot is to have more participants who can give suggestions. The opposition is making it an issue. We are listening to people who could not travel to Delhi," he added.
On Sunday, Pal dismissed allegations of impropriety and defended the study tours by him and other committee members.
Stating that not every committee member needs to be present during the meetings and study tours as they might have other commitments, he told ANI, "Even during Parliament sessions, it never happens that all MPs are present during every debate of every session... The purpose of the study tour of the JPC is not if all members are present or not. The purpose is to give the administration, waqf board, minority commissions and all stakeholders of the state it visits, a chance to be heard."