As the six-month upload window ends, Mutawallis say the government’s faulty portal blocked fair registration of Waqf properties
NEW DELHI — The central government’s UMEED portal, created for the registration and verification of Waqf properties across India, has officially closed after months of technical failures that left thousands of Muslim community assets hanging in uncertainty. The six-month submission window, which began on 6 June 2025, came to an end on 6 December, bringing with it serious concerns among Muslim bodies and Mutawallis who say the process was unfair, rushed, and deeply flawed.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs confirmed that the portal—launched by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju—was shut after the deadline as required under the UMEED Act, 1995, and the Supreme Court’s directions. But Mutawallis across the country insist the portal remained unstable throughout the six months.
Many said they repeatedly faced errors, frozen screens, and sudden shutdowns. One Mutawalli from western Uttar Pradesh said, “We tried again and again. The portal was too slow. Sometimes it did not even open. How can they expect us to finish the work when the system itself was failing?”
According to official data released by the ministry, 517,040 Waqf properties were entered on the portal during the six-month drive. Of these:
• 216,905 properties were approved
• 213,941 remain under process
• 10,869 properties were rejected outright
Muslim community representatives say the number of rejections shows how poor the system was. A Mutawalli from Bihar said, “These rejections do not reflect reality. They reflect the technical faults of the portal. Our documents were correct, but the system kept failing.”
Several Muslim organisations are now demanding an independent review to ensure that no community property is lost because of government negligence.
The Waqf Progress Report shows that the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board registered the highest number of properties in India:
• 86,345 properties registered
• 10,110 properties uploaded during the period (the highest among all states)
Senior members of the board said they worked day and night to complete the uploads despite the portal’s repeated crashes. One official said, “We kept pushing because these properties belong to the Muslim community. If we stop, we risk losing them.”
The Ministry of Minority Affairs has said it conducted numerous workshops, zonal meetings, and training sessions to help states and union territories. Officials also stated that a two-day master workshop was held in Delhi to train officers on the uploading process.
But Muslim groups argue that the training efforts mean little when the portal itself remained unstable. A Delhi-based Waqf activist said, “Training cannot fix a broken portal. The system was slow, confused, and often unresponsive. Mutawallis invested hours trying to upload just one file.”
Even the ministry’s own teams had to be deployed to various states to handle the rising number of technical complaints.
Secretary of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Chandrashekhar Kumar, chaired over 20 review meetings since June. He pushed states to complete their uploads and monitored each region closely.
However, Mutawallis say the government failed to fix the main issues. One caretaker from Madhya Pradesh said, “They held meetings, but nothing changed. We still faced the same problems. The government should admit that the system was not ready.”
The closure of the portal has only increased concerns among Indian Muslims, who say their community properties are being handled without proper care. Many believe the technical failures could be used later to question the legitimacy of Waqf ownership records.
A senior member of a Waqf protection group in Hyderabad said, “These assets belong to the poorest Muslims. If the government cannot even run a portal properly, how will it protect Waqf land? The community has every reason to worry.”
Several Muslim scholars and legal experts warn that the chaos on the UMEED portal may lead to disputes, confusion, and possible misuse of records. They say a fresh window must be opened to correct the mistakes caused by technical faults.
Muslim bodies across India are now asking the government to make the full list of rejected properties public, along with clear explanations for each rejection. Many say this is the only way to protect the community’s land from being lost due to technical shortcomings.
A Mutawalli from Lucknow summed up the community’s mood: “We have nothing to hide. We only want fairness. If the government claims to protect Waqf, then let them prove it by correcting the mistakes on their own portal.”
