Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department is a department of Government of Punjab, Pakistan. It handles the administration of 534 shrines, 534 masjids, 76,625 acres of land, 1,403 commercial/domestic properties, employes 2,789 employees, runs a 120-bed hospital at Data Darbar, 16 dispensaries in Punjab, organizes 11 zones. and acts as a liaison between the Auqaf Organisation and Government of Punjab.[1] The Auqaf & Religious Department is headed by the Secretary Auqaf & Religious Affairs who is assisted by the Additional Secretary and the Deputy Secretary.[2] The department is governed under the (i) Music in Muslim Shrines Act, 1942, (ii) Punjab Waqf Properties Ordinance, 1979., (iii) Punjab Pakistan Waqf Properties (Accounts) Rules, 1982, (iv) Punjab Waqf Properties (Administration) Rules, 2002 and (v) The Punjab Publication of Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and Recording Errors) Act, 2010.[3] [4]
Under the West Pakistan Waqf Properties Ordinance (1959) the Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department was established in 1960 later in 1972 becoming a provincial unit, becoming federalized in 1976 and then later returned to the provinces in 1979.
In 2020, the Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department banned the filming of movies and music videos in masjids and shrines after a controversy at Wazir Khan Masjid, Lahore where two music artists filmed a music video. An FIR was raised against the two artists alleging blasphemy and hurting public religious sentiments.[5] In 2021, the Auqaf department lost the administration of Badshahi Masjid after then Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered the Punjab Government to take over its administration and said it should be granted to the Tourism department or Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA), stating the Auqaf department did not have the financial resources.[6]
In November 2023, it was reported that the Auqaf department was collaborating with the Urban Unit Authority and the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) to digitize trust properties, commercial rent collection and the computerisation of commercial properties.[7] In June 2024, the Punjab Auqaf department initiated a survey in 435 government masjids and 500 government shrines to determine the effect of khutbah "on worshippers and their families across the province," together with Lahore University of Management Sciences and Harvard University with district Khatibs supervising. Qari Abdul Rahim Abbasi of the Tahafuz Haqooq Ulema Council and Auqaf Dept Welfare Assocation said the survey would be conducted independently. Following the surveys completion, it would be upscaled and conducted in KPK, Balochistan, GB, Sindh and AJK. Express Tribune reported that following the survey "[n]ew public mosques will be built in the areas where there are no official mosques, while the scales of Imams and khatibs of the government mosques will be upgraded." And further claiming "the government mosques will be used to solve public problems and bring prosperity and development" after the survey.[8]
In 2018, The Nation reported widespread corruption in the Auqaf department, Mian Ata Manika, who served as PMLN minister for Auqaf for three years, stated that there was "massive corruption" in the department and "I repeatedly tried to meet Shehbaz Sharif [the then Punjab chief minister], but he had no time for Auqaf." He further added that there was "powerful mafia" that occupied Auqaf land together with its officials. Writer Iftikhar Alam cited declining revenue collection, increasing expenditure and instances of malpractice, including almost 11,000 acres of illegally occupied land. Auqaf spokesman Asif Ejaz denied corruption and claimed committees to "raid cash boxes" and security cameras were installed. An inspection team of the Chief Minister of Sindh in 2023 similarly found corruption in the Sindh Auqaf Department in which Rs100 million was misappropriated from the maintenance of shrines.[9] The caretaker Sindh government in November 2023 banned sub-leasing of Auqaf department proprieties to "curb" corruption.[10]
The department has seen numerous reshuffles in bureaucratic officeholders; in January 2023, Syed Tahir Raza Bukhari was posted as Director General Religious Affairs Auqaf Punjab, while the previous DG Wahid Arjmand Zia was transferred to S&GAD.[11] In March 2024, following the inauguration of the Maryam government in Punjab, major bureaucratic reshuffling occurred, as OSD Javed Akhtar Mahmood became Secretary of the Auqaf & Religious Affairs Department,[12] while later in June 2024, Ahmad Afnan and Nabila Javed were reshuffled as Additional Secretary (Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department) together with other postings.[13]
The Department Organization comprises the following six Directorates:
The Department also includes the following bodies:[14]
Functions of department include:[15]
Auqaf Department maintains 1 hospital and 14 dispensaries in the Punjab.[16]
The Department also distributes the "Jahez Fund" handled by Zonal Administrators in Punjab and Langar at Data Darbar, Lahore.[17] [18]
Agriculture land (banjar) under the administrative control of the department is offered for lease per annum. The department also leases land for seven years under the Tube Well Scheme.
Total property leased by department:[19]
Agricultural land leased:
Commercial land leased:
The department also derives revenues from;
