Union Minister Kiren Rijiju speaks in Lok Sabha during the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Kolkata The Union Minority Affairs Ministry has informed Parliament that 1,15,551 Waqf properties in West Bengal have been validated and approved on the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) portal as of July 15, 2026, up from 80,548 properties reported in February 2025. A rise of around 35,000 registrations in a year. “As on date 15.07.2026, a total of 1,33,417 waqf properties were initiated by the Board of Auqaf, West Bengal for uploading on the UMEED Central Portal–2025. Out of these, 1,15,551 waqf properties have been validated and approved by the approver, while 12,720 properties have been rejected during verification. Thus, the Board of Auqaf, West Bengal has complied with the extended statutory deadline,” an answer by the Minister of Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, said to a question raised by Bharatiya West Bengal State President Samik Bhattacharya. The State Waqf Board already had 80,548 properties registered under them. Former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee opposed the Waqf Amendment Bill and said that she would protect the Waqf properties in the State. She issued an advertisement in the papers in January 2026 stating that the State Waqf Board had filed a Writ petition against the issue at the Supreme Court. However, the Ms Banerjee government also told people that they must register their properties on UMEED. “Therefore, there is no truth in such propaganda that registration of property details in the new portal [UMEED portal] will result in transfer or alienation of Waqf properties,” the newspaper advertisement later said after many criticised Ms Banerjee for opposing the bill yet asking people to register. In June 2025, the Central government launched the UMEED portal to start central registration of properties after the Waqf Amendment Bill was passed in the Parliament and became an Act.
