With the Supreme Court refusing to entertain petitions seeking an extension of the December 6 deadline for the UMEED waqf portal, the Telangana State Waqf Board (TGWB) and volunteer groups have been working round the clock to upload documents. But this remains an uphill task. Technical glitches on the portal, the identification of hundreds of unregistered waqf properties and the search for their supporting documents have only compounded the problem.
The Shahi Masjid Bagh-e-Aam in Public Gardens here has turned into an important centre for getting documents in order, and uploading them to the portal. Over the last month, “makers” registered scores of waqf properties on the portal documents and subsequently uploaded documents.
“A misconception among the public is that only gazette notified waqf properties should be registered on the portal. We have got such institutions registered, and are trying to spread the word to not ignore unregistered properties,” said Khateeb of the Shahi Masjid Bagh-e-Aam Maulana Ahsan al Hamoomi.
The centre is equipped with laptops, computers and required infrastructure. Around 15 volunteers, many of them second and third-year law students, have been working tirelessly every day, he added.
Hard copies of the form are first provided so that applicants can organise their documents. A mandatory-document checklist is given and forms are initially submitted manually. “People have been arriving from far-off places, including districts in Andhra Pradesh and those located along the Telangana border, to register their properties,” the maulana said.
But for the last two days, the portal server is down, he said. Registration numbers have dipped from 50 per day to one or two. “This is why we decided to work late at night when traffic to the portal is low,” he said.
According to TGWB chief executive officer Mohammed Asadullah, Telangana has over 33,000 registered waqf properties. Registration of 29,000 is complete. However, the larger problem is with the unregistered waqf properties.
“These 33,000 were enumerated in the first survey – from 1989 to 2001. About 20,000 institutions — smaller masjids, dargahs and chillas — are unregistered. Any document that shows their nature as waqf needs to be uploaded. It is the mutawalli or committee that has to do this,” Mr.Asadullah told The Hindu. The second waqf survey, which identified these smaller institutions, will not be considered.
Pointing to technical issues, he said that it was only recently that the names of mandals in Telangana were added to the portal’s drop-down, after it was brought to the attention of those concerned. Much like Maulana Hamoomi, he pointed out that waqf officials and volunteers have been dealing with technical issues for the last 10 days.
The TGWB, Mr.Asadullah said, has been working with the Telangana State Archives and Research Institute (TGSARI) to identify sanads, firmans, muntakhabs, inam documents of waqf properties. Scanned copies of documents of around 3,000 properties were obtained. Work at the TGSARI is still in progress.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, and body of influential Muslim scholars, politicians and professionals, staunchly opposed the portal. However, a softening of stand led them to organise a few workshops.
In Telangana, the Anjuman-e-Sajjadagan-o-Mutawalliyaan-o-Khidmatguzaaraan-e-Waqf, a body of hereditary sajjada nashins, and mutawallis of waqf institutions, stated that uploading documents to the portal was crucial to avoid unnecessary and complicated litigation.
Published – December 02, 2025 08:00 pm IST
