Is Land Area Owned by Waqf Board More Than That of Pakistan? No!

The claim is false. The total area owned by the Waqf Board in India is around 3,804 square kilometres.

A claim is doing the rounds on social media platforms stating that the area of properties owned by Waqf Board in India is more than the total land area of Pakistan.

What have users said?: Those sharing the claim have taken a dig at the Congress party and said, "The area of Pakistan is 8.81 lakh square kilometers. And the area of Waqf Board is 9.40 lakh square kilometers. One Pakistan was created outside, one was created inside..."

The above claim had garnered over 10 thousand views on the platform. More archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.

Is the claim true?: No. The total area owned by the Waqf Board in India is 9.4 lakh acres, which is around 3,804 square kilometres.

• As compared to this, the total land area of Pakistan is 8.81 lakh square kilometres.

About Waqf properties in India: We conducted a keyword search on Google with the words "waqf board properties india".

• This directed us to an explainer of the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 available on the official website of Press Information Bureau (PIB).

• It detailed that the Wakf Boards control around 8.7 lakh properties in India, which spans across 9.4 lakh acres and has an estimated value of Rs 1.2 lakh crores.

• It further said that the Waqf Board is the third largest landowner in the country after the Armed Forces and the Indian Railways.

Team WebQoof converted 9.4 lakh acres into square kilometres and found the exact value to be around 3804.04504. This clearly shows that the value given in the viral claim is misleading.

News report: As per a report published in Economic Times, the Waqf Board is the third-largest landholder in India and controls around 8.7 lakh properties. These properties span across 9.4 lakh acres.

• The report further mentioned that are about 32 waqf boards in the country.

Total land area owned by Pakistan: According to the official website of Consulate General of Pakistan in Los Angeles, the total land area of Pakistan is around 8,81,913 square kilometres.

Conclusion: It is clear that the viral claim about Waqf boards in India owning more land area than that of Pakistan is false.

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