Only 2.16 lakh of India’s 8 lakh Waqf properties, nearly 27 %, have been registered on the UMEED portal, with Karnataka recording the highest registrations at 81% while Uttar Pradesh, despite having the most Waqf properties under its Shia and Sunni boards, managing to register only 5% and 11% respectively, according to newly released data.
Of the 5.17 lakh applications submitted on the portal, 10,872 were rejected. Karnataka recorded the highest number of completed registrations at 52,917 (81%), followed by Jammu & Kashmir with 25,046 (77%), Punjab with 24,969 (90%), and Gujarat with 24,133 (61%), the portal data shows.
West Bengal performed the worst, with only 716 registrations completed out of 80,480 properties, a mere 0.89%. The TMC government had resisted implementing the Waqf (Amendment) Act for months before finally directing officials last week to upload property details on UMEED.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Shia Waqf Board managed just 789 registrations (5%), while the Sunni Waqf Board completed 12,982 (11%). Apart from Bihar, UP is the only state with separate Waqf Boards for the two sects. Maharashtra registered 17,971 properties out of 36,700 (48%).
“In the final count, the momentum significantly accelerated as the deadline approached,” the ministry said.
A total of 2,13,941 properties submitted by mutawallis remain in the pipeline as of the deadline, while 10,869 properties were rejected during verification.
As Karnataka became the first state to digitally upload all of its Waqf properties on the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development (UMEED) portal, Karnataka Waqf Board Chairman Syed Muhammad Ali Al Hussaini said, “It was a big task. After the Supreme Court order, the work started. Karnataka is a major stakeholder in Waqf properties, and its board has always been quite organised and well managed. It was a very important and time-bound exercise, and we uploaded it in a highly structured manner after all the discussions with the concerned officers.”
Launched on June 6 under the provisions of the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Act, the UMEED (Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development) portal aims to create a centralised, geo-tagged digital database of Waqf properties to improve transparency and management. Registration challenges, however, have been widespread.
Mutawallis and Waqf Boards struggled with frequent portal crashes, missing documents for centuries-old properties, and inconsistent land measurement systems across states.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Wednesday sought an urgent meeting with the Minister of State for Minority Affairs, citing repeated crashes and slow functioning of the government’s UMEED portal, which is being used to upload waqf property records.
On Friday, Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced a three-month penalty-free period for those who missed the deadline, saying they may seek extensions from state Waqf Tribunals, which are empowered to grant relief.
Waqf Board officials now expect to file extension requests with their respective tribunals.
Property registration on UMEED involves three stages, the initial submission by mutawallis, verification by Waqf Board officials, and final approval by Waqf Board CEOs.
India has a total of 8.8 lakh Waqf properties. Uttar Pradesh holds the largest share with 2.4 lakh Sunni and Shia properties, followed by West Bengal (80,480), Punjab (75,511), Tamil Nadu (66,092), and Karnataka (65,242).
