Deadline for Waqf properties, fear of dispute, doubt

If they miss the deadline, thousands of assets, some of which are centuries old, could go into digital void.

The fear hangs heavy outside a central mosque in Hyderabad, where small groups of men wait silently, files pressed close to their chests. Some have rolled gazette notifications and title deeds, while others have electricity bills, tax receipts or delicate photocopies saved from old registers. Every piece of paper counts. A few hundred meters away from the mosque, across a busy road, the second row looks exactly like the first. On a designated floor inside a government office, young men with sunken eyes and dry lips – obvious effects of fasting – type incessantly on laptops. Every document that can establish a property waqf Must be uploaded to UMEED waqf portal before time runs out.

The urgency is unambiguous, the concern palpable. The first deadline has already passed. The next one, March 12, is barely a fortnight away, and the scale of the task is immense.

Launched amid promises of reforms, the UMEED (Integrated Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development) portal was introduced last June by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju as a system that would “not only bring transparency but also help common Muslims, especially women and children”. Envisioned as a centralized digital platform, it seeks real-time uploading, verification and monitoring waqf Offering public access to properties, geo-tagged inventory, GIS integration, transparent leasing records, an online grievance redressal system and verified data.

However, in Telangana, the ground reality started emerging within a few days of the exercise. thousands waqf Assets had to be identified, their paperwork located, collected and digitized, often from fragmented, incomplete or conflicting records, within a tight deadline. Distrust over intentions, unfamiliarity with digital processes, confusion over technical questions, and legal uncertainty combined to slow the process, even as the clock kept ticking.

The matter became more complicated when the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) approached the Supreme Court of India. There was hesitation within the community as the result was described as disappointing Mutawalli (Manager, Caretaker or Superintendent) waqfAn Islamic charitable endowment) and managing committees.

Moreover, there was dissatisfaction over the approach of AIMPLB. While the board had initially discouraged uploading of documents on the portal citing apprehensions that the central government might interpret it as acceptance of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, the position later changed amid fears of irreversible damage.

AIMPLB is of the opinion that the law is discriminatory and contradicts Articles 14 (equality before the law and equal protection of the laws), 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion) and 26 (freedom to manage religious affairs) of the Constitution.

Explaining this dilemma, AIMPLB spokesperson and member SQR Ilyas said The Hindu Says, “We had hoped that the uploading would be stopped till the issue is completely dealt with. But to avoid any loss, the Board said that people can go ahead with the uploading. The matter has to go to a larger bench of the Supreme Court and the Board will fight on it, which will also include the aspect of statute of limitation.” The scale of what is at stake is staggering. According to Telangana State Waqf Board CEO Mohammad Asadullah, there are 33,929 gazette-notified in the state waqf While another 13,400 properties were identified during the second waqf Survey. This is in addition to approximately 2,800 waqf Entities listed in Kitab-ul-Awqaf, the register of endowments maintained by authorities existing before 1954.

Spread across cities, towns and remote villages, these properties form the backbone of religious, charitable and community life. And, officials admit that even these numbers may not reach the full extent waqf-User properties that exist without formal record.

The problems were not just legal or procedural; He was also technical. “After moving to the Waqf Tribunal, some technical difficulties persisted. The bulk approval selection was inefficient. So we had to select each entry to approve or reject. This proved to be time-consuming. The number of attachments or the list of documents also increased,” says Asadullah, underscoring the challenges the Telangana Waqf Board is grappling with.

Telangana Waqf Board member Syed Bandagi Badeshah Quadri on 23 February Mutawalli The community expressed another concern, which they say has been conveyed to Chairman Syed Azmatullah Hussaini. “Applications often show status as ‘Submitted’ but applicants are not informed if they are subsequently rejected or require corrections,” he says.

fault lines on the portal

He explains that many people believe that their applications are in process when they may not be. Since registration ultimately depends on approval on the portal, such gaps may lead to properties being unregistered. “There is an urgent need to alert applicants through SMS, email or portal notifications and ask them to double-check the status of their application,” he suggests.

Although these technical issues and procedural ambiguities remain, the number waqf-User applications have increased. This, in turn, exposed another fault line – more than one individual or committee, in many cases, laying claim to the same institution. “In this case, we decided to go by the records. If the records show that a person MutawalliWe are not considering applications in which someone else claims to be Mutawalli of the same waqf The institution,” Asadullah explains.

When concerns over registration on the portal were at their peak last year, the human cost of the practice came to light late at night in a public garden in the Shahi Masjid complex. A room there was made a center for uploading. waqf Property details on Umeed portal.

A man came out quietly. The collar of his shirt was frayed, his trousers hung loose and his worn-out rubber slippers were torn around his ankles while walking. Hours of waiting had made his eyes dim with fatigue. He contacted the applicants throughout the night and was providing assistance. Asked if his work was done, he nodded. He had traveled from a place near Narayanpet, about 170 km from Hyderabad, to register a small mosque established years ago.

“Earlier, there was no mosque for 7-8 kilometres. In our mosque, around 25 people come to pray. We need a imam (One who leads the daily congregational prayers). There is a room for him to stay,” he had said.

A few moments later, he boarded the waiting autorickshaw, started the engine and drove away. This was another institution that logged into a huge, still incomplete digital exercise. Volunteers say there were many such examples: people from ordinary backgrounds, traveling long distances determined to ensure that waqf The institutions they represent are on record.

While concern runs high among many stakeholders, some others, particularly those associated with smaller and relatively new waqf The properties say they have opted not to upload the documents. “It is not clear how the information will be used or whether the central government will intervene. That is why we did not go ahead with uploading the documents,” said a person associated with a small mosque built about five years ago in Banjara Hills, requesting anonymity.

Official data received on February 24 shows both progress and backlog. At least 17,289 properties submitted by manufacturers were pending with Checkers, while 6,638 submissions accepted by Checkers were awaiting approval. Another 23,945 properties had already been approved. Overall, records show that 62,837 waqf Property registration was either started or completed. However, officials point out that these figures hide the scale of the pending work, with the process being slowed down due to verification steps, documentation corrections and approval hurdles.

While the Waqf Board grapples with numbers and technical constraints, a new complication emerged last week, adding another layer to an already demanding process.

a new dilemma

The Department of Heritage Telangana (DHT), formerly the Department of Archeology and Museums, has claimed that the Waqf Board had registered some medieval monuments – Muslim in nature – in the Umeed portal.

DHT Director Arjun Rao Kuthadi told The Hindu The department has used Section 3D of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 to demand removal of these places of worship from the portal.

This section makes any declaration of a protected monument void waqf. Accordingly, any notification identifying any property waqf It will not be valid if the site is protected under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904 or the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958.

However, the Waqf Board has strongly contested the claims. Senior officials say a formal response is being prepared and relevant documents have been sought from the department, but the issue cannot be limited to a narrow legal ambit. He argues that questions relating to the continuity of rituals, customs and acts of worship at such sites should be investigated and resolved.

Officials say the interpretation of Section 3D needs careful scrutiny. They say whether the provision applies only to the structure or to the land on which it stands, and to what extent, are issues that require deliberation. The blanket transfer of the institutions, along with the land parcels concerned, cannot be done without detailed deliberations. While DHT officials have indicated that legal remedies can be explored if necessary, the Waqf Board maintains that these are active religious places of worship and it remains a stakeholder.

This controversy has also attracted political voices. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who is also the president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, had raised serious concerns over how Section 3D could be implemented during the introduction and passage of the amendment. He warned that in some contexts, worship at such sites could be restricted or stopped altogether.

Mr Owaisi had said the provision was not part of the original bill, but it was introduced “secretly” on the day of the debate. This section, he said, would “take away mosques, Imam Bara and Dargahs from the Waqf Board”, causing Muslims to lose their places of worship. He also cited the recommendations of the Sachar Committee, which suggested that Muslim places of worship in Delhi be handed over to the Delhi Waqf Board under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India.

Now, as legal interpretations are disputed and institutional positions become tighter, the clock is ticking. With the March 12 deadline for uploading documents on the UMEED portal approaching, Waqf Board officials say they are optimistic of completing the process, even as the digital process begins amid unresolved disputes and growing uncertainty.