Parliament Question: Digitisation and verification of waqf properties

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4105 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026 DIGITISATION AND VERIFICATION OF WAQF PROPERTIES 4105: # SHRI BRIJ LAL: SMT. KIRAN CHOUDHRY: SHRI KESRIDEVSINH JHALA: Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be please to state:- (a) the number of waqf properties recorded in the national database after enactment of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, State/UT-wise; (b) the number of waqf properties whose ownership and records have been verified and updated following the implementation of the new provisions; (c) the number of cases of encroachment or disputed ownership identified during the verification process; and (d) the number of cases where action has been initiated for removal of encroachments or recovery of waqf properties? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU) (a) to (b): The Ministry of Minority Affairs launched the statutory Portal i.e. UMEED Central Portal- 2025 on 06.06.2025 in accordance with the provisions of 3(ka) the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995 which mandates that details of all existing waqf and dedicated properties to waqf registered prior to the commencement of the amended Act shall be uploaded on the Portal within a period of six months, with a provision for further extension of up to six months by the Waqf Tribunal on sufficient cause being shown by the mutawalli. The Portal operates on a three-tier user protocol of Maker, Checker, and Approver to ensure real-time and verified data entry by preventing uploading of irrelevant or incorrect details of existing waqf & the property dedicated to the waqf. As on 24.03.2026, total 6,52,543 existing waqf properties have been initiated on the Portal, out of which 3,18,018 properties have been validated and approved by the approver, while 44545 properties were rejected during verification. (c) to (d): As on date, details of 44,752 encroached waqf properties have been uploaded by the State/UT Waqf Boards on the UMEED Portal–2025. However, it is stated that the process of uploading, verification and validation of waqf property data on the UMEED Central Portal–2025 is ongoing process. Several State/UT Waqf Boards have sought extensions of time from the competent authority/Tribunal for completion of the data entry and verification process in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Accordingly, the exact number of such cases, as well as the number of cases where action has been initiated for removal of encroachments or recovery of waqf properties, is ascertained only after the completion of the entire process on the Portal. ******