Portal glitches and ‘missing records’ slow down registration of Waqf, Pg12

Key Highlights:

• Only 4,000 out of 8.72 lakh Waqf establishments have been registered on the UMEED portal after four months of its launch.
• Waqf Board officials cite legal and technical issues, such as missing data and login failures, as reasons for slow registration.
• The Union Minority Affairs Ministry attributes the slow progress to the absence of complete records.
• The government claims to be addressing technical issues within 24 hours to ensure transparency and ease of data uploading.

Detailed Insights:

• The UMEED portal is a centralised digital platform designed for real-time uploading, verification, and monitoring of Waqf properties across 30 States and Union Territories.
• States like Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Maharashtra have reported errors during registration, including missing location names and login problems.
• The absence of an auto-save feature and the requirement for century-old revenue records, often in Persian and Arabic, further complicate the registration process.
• Defining precise boundary details for shared properties is a significant challenge, hindering the registration of dedicated Waqf lands.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Waqf: An irrevocable charitable endowment under Muslim law, typically involving property or land.
• UMEED portal: A centralised digital platform for managing and monitoring Waqf properties in India.