The West Bengal government has issued directives to all district magistrates across the state to ensure compliance with the December 5 deadline for uploading data of all waqf properties on the central government's UMEED portal. This development comes despite the ruling Trinamool Congress's strong opposition to the amended waqf legislation.
Deadline Pressure for Waqf Property Documentation
With the December 5 deadline rapidly approaching, the Bengal administration has activated its district-level machinery to ensure that all 82,000 waqf properties spread across 8,000 waqf estates are properly documented and uploaded to the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) portal. The state government has instructed district magistrates to coordinate with mutawallis, who are the managers of waqf properties, to complete this massive data compilation exercise.
A senior state government officer confirmed that information about all waqf properties in Bengal is already available with the Centre, but the new act mandates that this data must be uploaded in a specific format on the UMEED portal. The officer noted that while some districts have already completed the upload process, others are expected to comply soon.
Legal Challenges and Political Opposition
The Trinamool Congress, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has consistently opposed the amended waqf act, now renamed as the UMEED Act, 1995. The party has raised objections both in Parliament and in the Parliamentary Standing Committee formed to examine the bill. Multiple petitions challenging the legislation were filed in the Supreme Court, leading to significant legal developments.
On September 15, the Supreme Court stayed certain provisions of the act, but notably allowed the implementation of section 3B, which specifically requires all mutawallis to upload data of registered waqf properties on the central portal by December 5. This judicial clearance has compelled the state government to initiate compliance measures despite its political reservations.
The Trinamool Congress maintains that the amended act infringes upon Muslims' fundamental right to religious and personal freedom and represents an encroachment into the state's legislative domain. Following the bill's passage in April, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had declared that the act would be revoked when the INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre.
Support Systems for Compliance
To facilitate the data upload process, the Bengal Waqf Board has established multiple support mechanisms for mutawallis. The board has introduced helplines and a WhatsApp number specifically designed to assist property managers in navigating the technical requirements of the UMEED portal.
Additionally, the board is conducting regular doubt-clearing sessions every Tuesday and Friday at its Madan Street headquarters in Kolkata. These sessions aim to address technical challenges and procedural queries that mutawallis might encounter during the data submission process.
The state administration's move to enforce compliance with the central directive indicates a careful balancing act between implementing court-mandated requirements and maintaining its political stance against what it perceives as central overreach in state matters.
