Lack of funds forces UP Waqf Board to defer hospital construction in Ayodhya

Due to a lack of funds, the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation Trust has been forced to postpone the building of a hospital in Dhannipur, Ayodhya, where the Waqf board was given land following the historic Ram Mandir Supreme Court ruling in 2019. The Trust is in charge of a large-scale project that calls for the construction of a mosque, a charitable hospital, and a community kitchen. It originally planned to build the hospital first and the mosque later. However, financial constraints have forced them to change their approach.

According to Athar Hussain, the secretary and spokesperson of the trust, the project will now proceed in smaller phases. "We have put the project on hold for now due to paucity of funds. Despite the difficulty, we will not shelve the project, but will change the strategy. We will divide the project into several small projects," Hussain told PTI.

"We will submit a new map of the mosque to the Ayodhya Development Authority. The mosque will take less money to build. It will be very easy to arrange it," he added.

The mosque, to be built over 15,000 square feet, is estimated to cost Rs 8-10 crore and will be equipped with solar panels, according to Hussain. "Our effort was to build the hospital before the mosque, but it is an ambitious project involving Rs 300 crore. The land where the mosque is proposed to be built already has many mosques, so we had thought of building a charity hospital and community kitchen first," he added.

To address this, they will now seek public donations nationwide starting next month. Zufar Farooqui, the chief trustee of the foundation, and chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, stated that a meeting will be held at the end of July to strategize their fundraising efforts.

The Ayodhya district administration allotted land in Dhannipur village to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board in compliance with the Supreme Court's verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case in 2019. The Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation Trust was established by the Waqf Board in July 2020 to oversee the mosque's construction. Subsequently, the Trust expanded its plans to include a charity hospital, a community kitchen, a library, and a research institute.

While the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya is nearing completion and scheduled to be open to the public by January 2024, the mosque project in Dhannipur is yet to begin. Earlier this year, the project faced a setback related to land use, which has now been resolved. The Trust remains determined to continue its efforts, adapting their strategy to ensure the realization of their vision for the mosque and accompanying facilities.