MOHD. Azam Khan is a very powerful cabinet minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh. The importance of Azam Khan can be judged from the fact that he is No. 2 in the cabinet, surpassing Shiv Pal Yadav, brother of de facto Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. Azam Khan is the minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Waqf Board, Urban Development, Water Supplies, Urban Employment & Poverty Alleviation, Minority Welfare and Haj. The charge of all these ministries makes Azam Khan indispensable for the system. Khan understands this fact very well. Apart from politics, he is Chancellor of Jauhar University, Rampur. The beautifully constructed university is in expansion mode on 250 acres on the bank of the Kosi river. Being a minister in the UP cabinet, resources are not an issue. Whosoever is dealing with the UP government, especially contractors, engineers and anybody working in those departments is aware of compulsions. It is in the public domain in Lucknow and widely reported that whosoever has to deal with the ministries headed by Azam Khan has to pay Jauhar University Tax apart from completing other formalities. Azam Khan himself is considered an honest politician and building an institution is a herculean task so nobody minds offering donations, as it is all for a cause.