A day earlier than the deadline for registration of waqf properties on the portal launched by the Heart on June 6, particulars of about one-third to one-tenth of properties had been uploaded in 4 of the 5 states that handle probably the most waqf lands within the nation.
Waqf boards and actual property mutawaris (directors) are going through issues equivalent to crashes of the portal (UMEED, or “Unified Waqf Administration, Empowerment, Effectivity and Improvement”), issue find centuries-old paperwork and paperwork associated to actual property, and completely different measurements used for land in numerous states.
The UMMED portal was launched by the Heart beneath the provisions of the impugned Wakf (Modification) Act and its goal is to position all belongings of Wakfs in a centralized digital database with geolocation tags and paperwork. The federal government says this may make sure that belongings are managed and guarded in a greater and extra clear method.
There are an estimated 880,000 waqf belongings throughout the nation.
Uttar Pradesh has by far probably the most waqf belongings throughout Sunni and Shia boards at $140,000. After UP, West Bengal (80,480 properties), Punjab (75,511 properties), Tamil Nadu (66,092 properties) and Karnataka (65,242 properties) have the very best variety of waqf properties. Bihar is the one state aside from UP that has separate Sunni and Shia committees. All different states have a unified waqf board.
In Uttar Pradesh, round 35% of properties had been registered beneath UMMEED until Thursday. In West Bengal, the place the Trinamool Congress authorities is going through protests from Islamic organizations for steering district judges to register waqf properties, about 12% particulars had been uploaded until Monday evening. In Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the determine was 10% (until Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively).
Punjab, which ranks third by way of measurement of waqf properties, is an exception, with round 80% of properties registered until Wednesday night. Nonetheless, it is because the Punjab Waqf Board registers ‘waqf actual property (which can embrace any variety of properties)’ slightly than waqf actual property, making it a extra manageable course of, officers stated. Punjab additionally has a special administration construction as there aren’t any mutawaris (custodians) of waqf properties, that are instantly managed by the board of administrators.
If the waqf immovables are usually not registered with UMEED by Friday, the respective waqf committees or mutawalis can strategy the waqf courts within the state and clarify the explanations for a similar. The court docket has the ability to grant an extension.
Nonetheless, Waqf Committees and Mutawallis worry that if issues proceed, the courts shall be overwhelmed with calls for. “How will the courts take care of hundreds of functions for extension of time?” stated the CEO of the Waqf Board.
The Indian Specific spoke to officers from the 5 states with the biggest variety of waqf properties, in addition to CEOs of waqf boards, who urged the federal government to increase the deadline for registration on the portal. Additionally they stated that and not using a land survey, such a survey can be very tough as a number of the waqf properties are historic.
In an concepts alternate session with The Indian Specific final week, Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju acknowledged receiving complaints concerning the portal, however stated the deadline couldn’t be prolonged as “the date is mounted within the (Wakf) Act”. “The legislation can’t be modified except Parliament itself modifications the provisions… My request is that everybody entry the portal directly. If there are comprehensible causes or there are particular circumstances that forestall registration, the court docket may give them extra time,” Rijiju stated.
A number of Muslim MPs throughout occasion strains are amongst those that have written to Rijiju asking for an extension of the deadline.
Samajwadi Social gathering Rampur MP Mohibullah Nadvi stated this in Sabah on Wednesday. “The servers are down… 70 per cent of the waqf properties are usually not registered (with UP)… Articles 25 and 26 (freedom to apply faith and handle non secular affairs) appear to have been abolished, making life tough for Muslims in our nation.”
In an analogous plea in court docket on Thursday, Saharanpur Meeting member Imran Masood stated, “We’re receiving complaints from throughout India about technical points with the UMEED portal…Muslims are fearful.”
The All India Islamic Private Regulation Board (AIMPLB) has additionally sought an extension of the deadline. “Studies are pouring in from in every single place that the portal is crashing, slowing down and typically stopping utterly. Clearly, importing a whole bunch of hundreds of properties in such a brief time period is sort of inconceivable,” AIMPLB spokesperson SQR Ilyas stated.
The Supreme Courtroom on Monday, whereas listening to arguments on the UMEED portal, refused to grant extension of registration of waqf properties and as a substitute requested the events to hunt aid from the involved courts.
uttar pradesh
The state has two separate Waqf Boards for the Shia and Sunni communities. By Monday night, the Sunni Waqf Board had efficiently uploaded paperwork regarding 45,574 Waqf properties out of a complete of 1.26 million (36%) beneath its management. Alternatively, the Shia Waqf Board did so for two,909 (18.9%) of the 15,386 Waqf properties beneath it.
A senior official of the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board stated that it’s tough to acquire the paperwork and particulars sought on the UMEED portal as some Waqf properties are historic and paperwork are inconceivable to search out. “For instance, some properties had been declared waqfs within the early twentieth century and mutation was carried out at the moment. The place can we discover the paperwork concerning such properties? These properties are listed as waqfs in income information. So why does the federal government ask us to offer particulars of mutation and registration of properties as waqfs?”
UP Sunni Central Waqf Board Chairman Zufar Farooqi informed The Indian Specific that Mutawaris and Waqf Board officers are doing their finest to make sure that paperwork are uploaded and registration of properties is accomplished. “We’re working across the clock, however we will be unable to finish this course of by the deadline,” he stated.
west bengal
Round 10,000 waqf properties out of the whole 80,480 waqf properties within the state have been efficiently registered on the UMEED portal until Monday night, officers of West Bengal’s Auqf Municipality have introduced.
Officers pointed to the truth that the mutawali are usually not technologically savvy and uneducated because of the gradual tempo. “You might be asking them to make use of the pc portal in English. In rural Bengal, most mutawali have no idea English,” the official stated.
The TMC authorities had refused to implement the Wakf (Modification) Act for a number of months till final week when it issued instructions to add info concerning waqf properties on the UMEED portal.
One other West Bengal state official pointed to the difficulty of various requirements for measuring land in numerous states. “One bigha in Bengal is completely different from one bigha in Bihar, UP and different states. The Heart has created a unified system on the portal for land measurement. How is it sensible?”
karnataka
A senior official of the Karnataka Auqaf Board stated that particulars of solely over 6,000 of the whole 65,242 waqf properties have been uploaded until Wednesday. “The servers are usually not working more often than not…The federal government ought to do one thing…Even when the portal is working, it takes 10-Quarter-hour per facility,” the official stated.
punjab
Of the 25,000 waqf properties within the state, round 20,000 are registered on the UMEED portal.
Explaining this excessive quantity within the state, a senior official of Punjab Waqf Board stated, “It’s because we’re not registering waqf immovables however waqf immovables, that are less complicated and easier. You possibly can register any variety of immovables in a single waqf immovable.”
The official additionally flagged the truth that though there aren’t any mutawalis within the state, the board instantly manages waqf properties. “Thus, the method is sort of full for us…Our Waqf Board workers have been working day and evening for the previous two weeks.”
tamil nadu
Tamil Nadu Wakf Board Chairman Okay. Navas Kani informed The Indian Specific that out of 66,092 waqf properties, solely round 6,000 properties have been registered until Tuesday. “The method is transferring slowly and it’ll take a substantial period of time to succeed in full compliance,” Kani stated on Tuesday.
Commenting on the challenges, he stated: “Most custodians and mutawali do not need the technical data or help wanted to replace their platforms, and there’s no authorities backing. In lots of instances, property paperwork and possession particulars are imprecise and it is extremely tough to add correct information with out finishing necessary analysis.”
Inputs from Arun Janardanan in Chennai and Raakhi Jagga in Ludhiana.
