UMEED Portal (Government Schemes & Initiatives)
UMEED Portal (Government Schemes & Initiatives)
Why In News:
A year after the launch of the UMEED portal for the centralised digitisation of Waqf properties, data shows that roughly 11% of uploaded applications nationwide have been rejected during verification.
Uttar Pradesh alone accounts for nearly a third of all rejections, mainly due to mismatches between uploaded details and land revenue records.
What is Waqf?
A Waqf is a permanent dedication, by a person professing Islam, of movable or immovable property for purposes recognised as religious, pious or charitable under Muslim law.
Once dedicated, a waqf property is inalienable, it cannot ordinarily be sold, inherited or transferred.
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 and UMEED
Passed by both Houses of Parliament in April 2025 and assented to by the President, the amendment renamed the earlier law as the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Act.
Key changes include removal of the contentious 'waqf by user' concept for new dedications, mandatory documentary proof of ownership, provision for non-Muslim members on Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council, and a role for District Collectors in resolving disputes over government land claimed as waqf.
The UMEED Portal
Launched on 6 June 2025, the portal digitises and geo-tags Waqf properties to build a transparent, centralised national database.
Under the process, 'Makers' (mutawallis or property managers) upload property details, while 'Approvers' (Waqf Board officials) verify and validate them.
The statutory window for uploading existing properties was six months, extendable by another six months through a Waqf Tribunal on sufficient cause.
Key Facts for Prelims:
Waqf falls under Entry 28 of the Concurrent List (List III), Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
Rejected registrations must be contested before the jurisdictional Waqf Tribunal, whose decision determines the final status of the property.
The Waqf Amendment Act, 2025 also revised the composition of the Central Waqf Council and State Waqf Boards to include representation from Muslim women and, for the first time, non-Muslim members, a change that drew significant political and legal debate during its passage.