Waqf Board urges immediate upload of documents for waqf institutions before December 6 deadline

With the UMEED portal deadline fast approaching, the Telangana State Waqf Board (TGWB) has directed mutawallis and members of managing committees of waqf institutions to upload documents connected to their respective waqf institutions without any further delay.

The urgency is on account of Union government agencies, such as the Central Waqf Council, relaying instructions to this effect to the State waqf boards.

“The Central government has made it clear that the deadline would not be extended. In fact, we, along with some other States at the South India UMEED portal workshop a few weeks prior, had requested that the deadline be extended. Given that this will not happen, uploading documents is most important and urgent,” a senior TGWB official told The Hindu. The last date for uploading the prescribed documents is December 6.

Sources said that mutawallis and managing committees, in the past, had expressed apprehensions over certain details that are to be submitted to the portal. These include if the mutawalli has been convicted. A lack of documents of relatively older waqf institutions also remains a concern. As on date, only a handful have registered on the portal as ‘makers’.

In order to allay fears and to facilitate quick uploading of documents, the board has set up an UMEED portal help desk at the Haj House. Mutawallis and members of managing committees of waqf institutions can approach the help desk for assistance in case there are technical and procedural issues.

In the recent past, the Anjuman-e-Mutawalliyan-o-Sajjadagan-o-Khidmatguzaraan-e-Waqf, a body of mutawallis, organised workshops to familiarise their community with the UMEED portal. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which has opposed the Waqf Amendment Act in its entirety, too is planning to facilitate the uploading of documents to the UMEED portal.

Speaking to The Hindu, TGWB in-charge Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Asadullah said that in order to handle properties that do not have a mutawalli, including those under the direct management of the board, the TGWB will use its staff as ‘makers’. The staff will register on the portal and enter appropriate details.

“A lot of old institutions, or smaller institutions, such as chillas, either have no documents. Staff will register as makers and enter details. A hierarchy to oversee this has instituted. Officers will also check the accuracy of the information entered by mutawallis. It will then come to the ‘approver’ who is the CEO. Once all details are cross-checked, it will be approved and will go into the central database,” Mr. Asadullah said.