Scramble to list waqf properties on UMEED portal

A legal aid foundation in Nalasopara offers a window into what the centre’s new waqf law means for caretakers of these properties “dedicated to God”

MUMBAI: On Thursday evening, the tension was palpable in the cramped office of the Al Momin Legal Aid Foundation in Nalasopara. Phones were buzzing incessantly, people were streaming in for assistance, and some were pulling out pages from sheafs of paper, and placing them before two youngsters punching details into computers at lightning speed.

Thane, India - December -04, 2025: Race to register waqf properties on the umeed portal at Nalasopara west ,in Thane ,in Mumbai, India, on, Thursday, December -04, 2025. ( Azim Tamboli / HT Photo)

Speed is of the essence here, as the clock winds down to a December 6 deadline to upload details of registered waqf properties on the government’s UMEED portal. Uploading the information is a precursor for digital verification of these properties, made mandatory under the centre’s new waqf law.

At the foundation’s office, the phone doesn’t stop ringing. “One of the calls was from Punjab,” said Padiar Almas, 28, a lawyer manning the phones and doing most of the uploading. “The person at the other end of the line was clueless. He was asking what needs to be done, what documents are needed, etc. We are doing our best to help.”

On June 6, the ministry of minority affairs launched the UMEED (Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development) portal, to create a digital inventory of all waqf properties. The idea is to introduce transparency and accuracy into the management of waqf assets in the country, but the process is riddled with challenges, including glitches, reluctance and suspicion, among other issues. As a result, things are moving at snail’s pace.

On Monday, when petitioners sought an extension to the six-month deadline, it was denied by the Supreme Court. Maharashtra has around 36,000 waqf properties and, on Friday, organisations like Al Momin Foundation and the many district waqf board offices were racing to the finish line.

Tech glitches

“For the initial four months, the UMEED portal was full of glitches and bugs, which made using it near impossible,” said an official from the Maharashtra State Waqf Board’s Mumbai office. “Even earlier this week, the portal was down for hours. We were up all night doing the uploads.”

Tech is not the only challenge. “People have called us from all across the country, especially UP and Punjab,” said Shaukat Chincholkar, a lawyer who founded the legal aid NGO in 2023, which has been guiding people over the phone, via WhatsApp, and in person. “Many are not aware of what’s to be done. Often, the trustees and caretakers of these properties are elderly and don’t understand the process.”

Naseer Ahmed Sheikh, a 75-year old doctor, offers an insight into the apprehensions. “I am chairman of the 400-year old Jama Masjid Trust in Vasai, and there are five trustees. It took a while to get them all on board with the decision to upload the details. There was fear that the process would be misused, especially as the Supreme Court was simultaneously hearing petitions against the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025,” he reveals.

But even after the trust decided to move forward, and documents for the multi-acre property had been pieced together from various sources, the process was rocky. “At the headquarters in Aurangabad last week, it took two days for my user ID to be sorted out. Then there was an issue with the area under the trust not matching with the official records due to a deletion that hadn’t reflected,” Sheikh said.

For the second, smaller Haji Deen Mohammed Trust he manages, he was directed to the Nalasopara office. “I prefer coming here than doing the process myself, to limit mistakes.”

Broader challenges

Accessing and then lining up the information needed to fill in forms online often poses a colossal challenge. Sometimes, waqf records are handwritten, dating back decades and include properties that were never physically surveyed. Some land parcels have no cadastral maps, others have been under tenancy for generations without updated revenue entries. In many cases, several waqf properties carry overlapping claims between public bodies, private parties, and even other waqf institutions.

Almas, a full-time employee at the NGO, said, “People don’t know if their property is mentioned in the 2003 gazette, the last time a statewide survey of all waqf properties was done. So we have to hunt that down and pull out the specific pages.”

She said the required documents – property card, waqf registration certificate, schedule with property details – are sent to them in jpg format, which they convert to pdf. If there is litigation or encroachments, which is often the case, or if any part of the property has been leased, those details and supporting proof are to be added.

“Sometimes, documents and details are missing, so we have to choose the less document-intensive option of ‘waqf by user’. An OTP is needed from the registeree. The process is complicated,” said Almas.

Jamal Khan, 44, secretary and provisional caretaker of the Jorah Masjid, a 5,000-sq ft mosque in Nalasopara east, is among the legion of people tasked with sorting out this tangle. “The person who gave the mosque as waqf has died, and the caretaker is sick with cancer,” said Khan.

“We were struggling to figure out how to complete the process. We tried a lawyer, but that didn’t work out. We were finally guided here through a waqf board officer in Bhiwandi,” he added.

The foundation said it has filled out more than 250 forms in the last 30 days. It has helped countless others over the phone.

And as the deadline inches closer, various district waqf board offices have been uploading details on behalf of trustees and caretakers of their own volition from their archives. Ubaid, a BSc IT graduate, has been loaned by the foundation to the Nariman Point office of the waqf board to help out.

“In Mumbai district, we have around 200 to 250 uploads left to do, which we believe is achievable,” said a waqf board officer. “According to my understanding, Maharashtra had uploaded 80% of its registered properties until Friday.”