Polity· Prelims · GS-II
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025: UMEED, from provisions to the portal
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 renamed the law UMEED: Section 40 deleted, trusts separated, tribunals recomposed, every property on a central portal. Provisions table, UMEED registration status, and the Supreme Court's interim order.
India's waqf estate is one of the largest religious endowments on earth: about 8.72 lakh properties spread over more than 38 lakh acres. For three decades it was governed by the Waqf Act, 1995, a framework the government argued had produced opaque records, endless litigation and boards that could declare almost any property waqf. The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, short-titled the UMEED Act, rewrote that framework: trusts separated from waqf, Section 40 deleted, tribunals recomposed, and every property ordered onto a central digital portal. This article gives the provisions, the portal's progress, and the Supreme Court's interim word, which is now the law's operating position.
Waqf, briefly
Waqf is the permanent dedication of property by a Muslim for religious, pious or charitable purposes recognised by Muslim law: mosques, dargahs, graveyards, schools and hospitals among them. Once dedicated, the property is locked in perpetuity and managed by a mutawalli, its custodian, under the supervision of State Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council, which advises the Union government. The Waqf Act, 1995 replaced the 1954 law and gave boards wide powers, including Section 40, which let a board decide on its own whether a property was waqf.
The system's scale is also its vulnerability. With nearly nine lakh properties, many documented orally or in century-old records, surveys lagged, encroachments multiplied, and boards and governments fought over title in tribunals for years. The 2025 amendments were sold as the cure: transparency through digitisation, and discipline through tighter definitions.
The road to UMEED
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 8 August 2024 and sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for scrutiny, a step the government used to blunt the charge of haste. Passed by Parliament in April 2025, the Act renames the 1995 law as the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, or UMEED, and amends it across definitions, institutions, dispute resolution and record-keeping in one sweep.
The headline provisions
Each row below is a testable change. Note the two provisions the Supreme Court has stayed, marked in the status column.
Provision | What changed | Status |
|---|---|---|
Trusts separated from waqf | Muslim-created trusts governed by other laws are no longer treated as waqf | In force |
Eligibility to dedicate | Only a person practising Islam for at least five years may dedicate property as waqf | Stayed by the Supreme Court |
Waqf by user | The concept allowing waqf status through long use is removed prospectively; properties registered before the Act retain status unless disputed or government land | In force |
Section 40 removed | Waqf Boards lose the power to decide on their own that a property is waqf | In force |
Survey of properties | Survey Commissioners replaced by the Collector or an equivalent district officer | Collector's powers stayed by the Supreme Court |
Government land claims | An officer above the rank of Collector investigates properties claimed as waqf that are identified as government land; the property is not treated as waqf pending the report | In force, subject to the stay on collector powers |
Waqf Tribunals | Three members: a district judge, a joint-secretary-level state officer, and an expert in Muslim law; appeal lies to the High Court within 90 days | In force |
Annual contribution | Waqf institutions' mandatory contribution to Boards cut from 7% to 5% | In force |
Audit | Institutions earning over Rs 1 lakh audited by state-appointed auditors; CAG audit provisions added | In force |
Women's rights | Inheritance must be secured before dedication; widows, divorced women and orphans protected in family waqf | In force |
Limitation Act | The Limitation Act, 1963 now applies to waqf property claims, ending open-ended disputes | In force |
Tribal lands | No waqf may be created on lands under Schedules V and VI of the Constitution | In force |
Central registration | All waqf properties to be uploaded on the central UMEED portal within six months of its launch | In force; window ended 6 December 2025 |
Composition | At least two Muslim women on the Central Council and State Boards; non-Muslim members permitted | In force; non-Muslim numbers capped by the Supreme Court |
The UMEED portal: how the registration drive is going
The UMEED portal, run by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, was launched on 6 June 2025 as the central digital repository for waqf properties, replacing the older WAMSI system. Registration requires measurements and geotagging, and properties unregistered after the deadline are flagged as disputed and referred to the tribunal. The Act gave six months from launch, so the statutory window closed on 6 December 2025.
The deadline politics matter for the exam. Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju ruled out an administrative extension, citing Supreme Court directions, but announced a three-month humanitarian window with no penalty for custodians who attempted registration. The Act's own remedy then took over: Waqf Tribunals may grant extensions of up to six months on satisfaction of cause, and 17 States and Union Territories received extensions of two to six months from February 2026.
The numbers show a drive still in motion. As of 2 March 2026, the portal recorded 6,29,527 properties initiated, of which 2,87,695 were validated and approved and 38,083 rejected after verification. State progress is uneven: Maharashtra reported about 98 per cent registration, 46,961 properties from 32,600 institutions, as of 16 July 2026, the highest rate claimed by any major state; West Bengal had 1,15,551 properties validated and approved as of 15 July 2026, a rise of roughly 35,000 in a year; and Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir are among the stronger performers. Uttar Pradesh, which holds the largest waqf portfolio, has lagged.
The courtroom status
Petitioners challenged the Act as violating Article 26, the community's right to manage its religious affairs, and as discriminating on religious grounds under Articles 14 and 15, while the government defended it as a transparency and gender-justice reform. On 15 September 2025, a bench led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai with Justice A.G. Masih delivered the interim order that is the law's current operating position.
The Court refused a blanket stay but carved out the sharp edges: it stayed the five-year-practice requirement for creating waqf and the Collector's powers over disputed properties, holding that property rights must be decided by courts and tribunals, not executive officers. It capped non-Muslim representation at four members in the Central Council and three in State Boards, and left the registration requirements untouched. The final hearing will decide the Act's fate; until then, the interim order is the position aspirants must know.
The criticism, fairly stated
Supporters argue the Act brings India's largest religious endowment into the digital age, protects women's inheritance, and can unlock the development value of 38 lakh acres for the community's benefit. Critics counter that centuries-old mosques and graveyards cannot produce modern title documents, that the portal has suffered technical failures, and that shifting title disputes toward the executive weakens community autonomy under Article 26. Both claims now sit before the Supreme Court, which is why the interim order, not the rhetoric, is what the exam will test.
Mains angle
Use UMEED as a case study in the governance of religious endowments: the state as regulator versus the community as manager. A strong answer acknowledges the genuine pathologies of the 1995 regime, opaque records, board overreach under Section 40, while interrogating the 2025 cure: executive-heavy dispute resolution, documentation burdens on ancient properties, and the Article 26 question. The Supreme Court's interim order offers the balanced close: transparency upheld through registration, executive overreach checked through the stays, and the final constitutional verdict awaited.
Key Terms
- Waqf: the permanent dedication of property by a Muslim for religious, pious or charitable purposes recognised by Muslim law
- Mutawalli: the custodian who manages a waqf property under the supervision of the State Waqf Board
- UMEED Act: the short title of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025: Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development
- Waqf by user: the now-removed concept under which long use alone could establish waqf status; pre-Act registered properties retain it
- Section 40: the deleted provision of the 1995 Act that let Waqf Boards decide on their own that a property was waqf
- Waqf Tribunal: the three-member adjudicatory body (district judge, joint-secretary-level officer, Muslim-law expert) with High Court appeal in 90 days
- UMEED portal: the Ministry of Minority Affairs' central digital repository for waqf registration, launched 6 June 2025
- Central Waqf Council: the national body advising the Union government on waqf policy, now with capped non-Muslim membership
- Limitation Act application: the 2025 change bringing waqf property claims under the Limitation Act, 1963, to end open-ended disputes
- Interim order of 15 September 2025: the Supreme Court order staying the five-year rule and collector powers while refusing a blanket stay
Practice questions
Consider the following statements about the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025:
- Muslim-created trusts governed by other laws are no longer treated as waqf.
- Section 40 of the Waqf Act, 1995, which let Boards decide waqf status of properties, has been removed.
- The Act permits the creation of waqf on lands under Schedules V and VI of the Constitution.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (a) 2 and 3 only
- (a) 1 and 3 only
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: (a) Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: the Act expressly bars waqf on Schedule V and VI tribal lands.
Consider the following statements about the UMEED portal:
- It was launched on 6 June 2025 by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
- The statutory six-month registration window closed on 6 December 2025.
- Waqf Tribunals may grant extensions of up to six months for registration.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (a) 2 and 3 only
- (a) 1 and 3 only
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: (d) All three are correct: the 6 June 2025 launch, the 6 December 2025 closure, and the tribunal's power to extend up to six months.
With reference to the Supreme Court's interim order of 15 September 2025 on the Waqf (Amendment) Act, consider the following statements:
- The Court refused to stay the entire Act.
- The Court stayed the five-year-practice requirement for creating waqf.
- The Court capped non-Muslim representation at four in the Central Council and three in State Boards.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (a) 2 and 3 only
- (a) 1 and 3 only
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: (d) All three are correct: no blanket stay, the five-year rule stayed, and the 4/3 caps on non-Muslim members.
Consider the following statements:
- Under the 2025 Act, waqf institutions' mandatory contribution to Waqf Boards was reduced from 7% to 5%.
- Appeals against Waqf Tribunal orders lie directly to the High Court within 90 days.
- The Limitation Act, 1963 has been made applicable to waqf property claims.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (a) 2 and 3 only
- (a) 1 and 3 only
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: (d) All three are correct: the 7% to 5% cut, the 90-day High Court appeal, and the Limitation Act's application.
UMEED stands for:
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) Unified Minority Empowerment, Efficiency and Development
- (a) Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development
- (a) Universal Waqf Management, Equity, Efficiency and Development
- (a) Unified Waqf Modernisation, Empowerment and E-governance Drive
Show answer
Answer: (b) Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development.
Answer key
- (a): Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: the Act expressly bars waqf on Schedule V and VI tribal lands.
- (d): All three are correct: the 6 June 2025 launch, the 6 December 2025 closure, and the tribunal's power to extend up to six months.
- (d): All three are correct: no blanket stay, the five-year rule stayed, and the 4/3 caps on non-Muslim members.
- (d): All three are correct: the 7% to 5% cut, the 90-day High Court appeal, and the Limitation Act's application.
- (b): Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development.
Mains Practice question
Q. The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 claims to bring transparency to India's largest religious endowment, while critics see an assault on community autonomy under Article 26. Discuss the Act's key provisions and evaluate the Supreme Court's interim response.
Framing hintStructure around three pillars: definitional discipline (trusts, waqf by user, Section 40), institutional redesign (tribunals, composition, audit), and digitisation (UMEED portal, deadlines, state-wise progress). Then weigh Article 26 autonomy against the state's reform interest, closing with the interim order as the judiciary's balancing act.
Q. Digitisation of land and endowment records is presented as a governance cure-all. Using the UMEED portal experience, examine the promise and the pitfalls.
Framing hintAcknowledge the promise: geotagged records, reduced litigation, transparent titles. Then the pitfalls from the portal's first year: documentation burdens on centuries-old properties, uneven state capacity, technical failures, and disputed properties flagged automatically. Conclude with design lessons: humanitarian windows, tribunal remedies, and capacity building before hard deadlines.
Frequently asked questions
What does UMEED stand for?
Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development, the short title of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
What is the deadline for registering waqf properties on the UMEED portal?
The statutory six-month window from the portal's launch on 6 June 2025 closed on 6 December 2025. The government ruled out an administrative extension but allowed a three-month penalty-free humanitarian window, and Waqf Tribunals may grant extensions of up to six months; 17 States and UTs received such extensions from February 2026.
Did the Supreme Court stay the Waqf (Amendment) Act?
No. On 15 September 2025 the Court refused a blanket stay but stayed the five-year-practice requirement and the Collector's powers over disputed properties, and capped non-Muslim membership at four in the Central Council and three in State Boards. The final hearing is pending.