1.2 lakh waqf assets under stages of verification
NEW DELHI: The time for earning the legal waqf tag for properties that existed before the Waqf Amendment Act 2025 came into effect is running out fast. The cut-off for making corrections for properties whose details are al- ready uploaded ends on June 30. Further, all those who have still not uploaded information on their properties in keeping with the six months’ extension granted to them by various tribunals face the risk of missing the bus if they are unable to comply on time as the law does not provide for further extensions. Amidst this race against time and over one year since the Umeed — the central waqf portal — was launched on June 6, around 5.87 lakh of the over 7.95 lakh waqf properties whose details have been uploaded so far have been approved. As data on the central waqf portal changes on real-time basis, the number reflects the status as of Saturday. As many as 88,634 properties figure in the category of “rejected by checker or approver and pending with maker” on the portal. According to ministry officials, these include a substantial number of duplicates which will be deleted, while the others have been referred back to the makers for reverification and correction. A maker is the authorised person who has uploaded the documents. “Re-verifications are being done of all such cases that figure in this category to ensure no genuine case is left out, and any correction can be done if it is required,” an official told TOI. According to the data, around 1.19 lakh properties are currently at different stages of verification, from submission to assessment by the approver. State-wise data show that out of 1.34 lakh properties uploaded from West Bengal, around 1.15 lakh have been approved. In the case of Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board, the data uploaded adds up to 1.52 lakh properties, of which 1.03 lakh have been approved. For Kerala, of the 80,337 properties whose details were uploaded, 63,103 have been approved. Under Waqf Amendment Act 2025, each verified waqf property will be eventually assigned a unique ID number. Govt had launched the portal in June last year. Since details of a large number of properties were yet to be uploaded after six months, waqf boards sought an extension of six months. When asked about when the six-month extension granted by tribunals ends, officials said that it varies as different boards approached tribunals at different points in time and some are still in the process of completing and uploading details based on the timeframe assigned to them by tribunals. While sharing details of various schemes of the ministry at a press conference on June 4, minister for minority affairs Kiren Rijiju had said efforts are continuing in coordination with state waqf boards to ensure that details of the remaining waqf properties are uploaded within the timeframe given by tribunals, as it was seen that many don’t have the complete set of documents necessary for the purpose.
