.. The wasiqua, a fixed share in the interest earned by the loans given by the rulers of Avadh to the East India Company, is the one reminder (of belonging to aristocracy ... For wasiqua-holders the value of the endowment is much more than the money it brings ...

Sustained more by pride than by substance, the 1,200 descendants of the Avadh rulers, of whom about 200 currently live in Lucknow, queue up every month at the Wasiqua office to receive their money, ranging from Rs.800 to Rs.5. There's a proud flourish as they sign the receipts ... After the British took over Avadh a legislation was passed to regularise the payment of the interest money. A trust headed by the division commissioner of Lucknow and including Shia members of the royal families was created to manage the funds. This responsibility was passed on to the Indian government in 1947.

However, what is a blessing can also be a bane ... Families live in penury but refuse to work ... (or) prepare their children for the big change in India's history.

(It) is also a big psychological burden. The wasiqua-holders are sentimental and become upset at things they consider insults ...                                  (Source: The India Today, 13 July, 1998)