Waqf Property Deadline Drama: Why 500,000 Registrations Surged at Last Minute

In a message on X, Rijiju said, “Had an engaging interaction with the delegation of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board at my office today. We discussed issues related to registration of Waqf properties in the UMEED Portal and pleasantly exchanged ideas.”

The window for uploading existing Waqf properties on the Central Portal closed on 6 December, and a total of 5,17,082 properties were initiated for upload, with the main surge occurring only in the final weeks.

In the last six days before the end of the deadline, more than 2,43,582 properties were initiated on the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Portal, according to official data.

“This shows the robust nature of the UMEED Portal. The data shows that almost all Waqf Boards, barring a few exceptions, remained inactive for the first five months and moved only when the deadline neared. Even then, the UMEED Portal handled the sudden spike smoothly, with many States ultimately completing uploads at exceptionally high levels,” said the Ministry.

Earlier, Rijiju had clarified that the six-month deadline mandated under the Waqf Amendment Act has ended and cannot be extended due to the provisions of the act and the clear directions of the Supreme Court.

However, recognising the concerns of mutawallis, the Minister assured that the Ministry will not impose any penalties or take strict action for the next three months as a humanitarian and facilitative measure.

Mutawallis who are unable to complete the registration process by midnight of December 6 were advised to approach the Waqf Tribunal, which has the legal authority to grant an extension.

The Minister repeatedly emphasised that any change in the legally mandated timeline is not possible, as it is bound by the law passed by Parliament and upheld by the Supreme Court.

The Ministry said media reports which claimed that “only 27 per cent of Waqf properties have been uploaded” till the deadline were based on a fundamentally flawed and outdated premise.

“They rely entirely on old WAMSI figures, numbers that today have no official relevance. WAMSI had long been recognised as unreliable: thousands of entries contained errors such as zero-area properties, mismatched or duplicate codes, inflated land areas without proof, and significant data-entry inconsistencies,” said the Ministry.

Unlike Waqf Assets Management System of India (WAMSI), UMEED is built on fresh, authenticated data captured through a maker–checker–approver workflow, with documentary evidence at every stage. Comparing this verified dataset with WAMSI’s error-ridden numbers is an apples-to-stones comparison.

- IANS