One Year After UMEED Launch, 11% Of Waqf Property Applications Rejected; UP Accounts For Over A Third Of Total Rejections

A year after the Centre launched the UMEED portal to create a digital inventory of geo-tagged waqf properties across the country, questions remain over the fate of thousands of properties that have failed to make it into the database. According to data available on the portal, details of 88,571 waqf properties have been rejected after scrutiny, accounting for 11% of the total 7,95,784 properties submitted for registration.

At the same time, 5,87,804 properties, or 74% of the total applications, have been approved for inclusion on the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) portal. However, the registration process is yet to be completed, leaving uncertainty over both pending and rejected applications.

UP tops rejection list as uncertainty grows

Uttar Pradesh accounts for the highest number of rejected waqf property applications in the country. A total of 31,783 applications from the state were rejected, making up nearly 36% of all rejections nationwide. West Bengal follows with 14,134 rejected applications, accounting for 16% of the total, while Rajasthan recorded 12,080 rejections, or more than 13%, Indian Express reports.

In terms of the percentage of applications rejected within states, Rajasthan recorded the highest rejection rate at 37%, followed by Tamil Nadu at 26% and Uttar Pradesh at 22.23%.

Of the 7,95,784 waqf properties submitted for registration across India, Uttar Pradesh alone accounted for 1,60,857 properties, or 20.1% of the total. West Bengal submitted another 1,34,545 properties, making up 16.9%.

Uttar Pradesh has separate Sunni and Shia waqf boards. Of the 1.52 lakh applications submitted by the Sunni Waqf Board, 29,724 were rejected. The Shia Waqf Board saw 2,059 rejections out of 8,171 applications. In neighbouring Uttarakhand, 455 out of 2,468 applications were rejected.

The high number of rejected applications has raised concerns among waqf boards, with officials in several states saying they have no clarity on what happens to properties that fail to get registered on the portal.

No roadmap for rejected properties

The Centre launched the UMEED portal on June 6, 2025, to create a digital inventory of geo-tagged waqf properties. All registered waqf properties were required to be uploaded to the portal within six months.

When the initial deadline ended on December 5, 2025, Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said there would be no penalty for failing to register properties within the stipulated period and that waqf boards could approach state waqf tribunals for an extension. Several tribunals subsequently granted more time, although those extended deadlines have already expired in some states and are due to end soon in others.

The registration process involves three stages. It begins with the mutawalli, or caretaker of a waqf property, who initiates the application. This is followed by verification by a designated district-level official or waqf board official acting as the checker. The final approval is granted by senior waqf board officials designated as approvers.

Despite the process being laid down, officials say there is no clarity on the status of rejected properties. Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board Chairman Ali Zaidi said the Waqf Act does not provide any roadmap for dealing with properties rejected for inclusion on the portal.

“As per the Waqf Act, there was no provision regarding the roadmap on what will happen to properties rejected for inclusion on the portal. We have received no information from the government on this,” Zaidi said.

A mutawalli in Delhi whose property application was rejected said no explanation had been provided by the portal.

“The property has not been registered, and no explanation has been provided. Even the status of registration remains unknown to us. The website does not display whether the application is under process, has been registered, or has been rejected,” he said, adding that they were planning to move court because the properties had already been registered as waqf properties.

Some waqf board CEOs have also sought additional time from the Centre to complete registrations.

"We wrote to the Ministry in June seeking an extension, but have received no reply," one CEO said.

Officials in the Ministry of Minority Affairs attributed the varying rejection rates across states to multiple factors, including the quality of land records, differences in the volume of waqf properties and varying levels of awareness among mutawallis.

According to a senior ministry official, states with better literacy levels saw greater awareness among mutawallis, allowing them to begin the registration process earlier. The official also said several southern states benefited from stronger legacy land records, resulting in better outcomes during scrutiny.

While the UMEED portal has made significant progress in creating a nationwide digital inventory of waqf properties, the rejection of more than 88,000 applications has exposed gaps in the registration process. With no clear policy on how rejected properties will be treated, uncertainty continues for waqf boards and property caretakers even a year after the portal's launch.