New Delhi: Amid concerns by various Waqf boards over reported “Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development” (Umeed) portal crashes that has prevented uploading of a majority of property records, Union minister for minority affairs Kiren Rijiju has said that Waqf tribunals in different states will address the complaints related to registrations and there will no be no penalty for three months for those who have failed to register. The Wire had reported that major Waqf boards could upload only a fraction of their property records before the deadline to do so closes on December 6. The Indian Express reported that only a tenth of the total Waqf properties could be uploaded in four of the five states with the maximum Waqf land. All Waqf boards have been demanding an extension of the deadline, and have received the support of prominent opposition parties. Rijiju said that there will be no harsh action taken for the next three months, but didn’t indicate whether the deadline will be extended or not. The Umeed portal was launched by the Union government with the objective of creating a centrally-manageable digital database of Waqf properties this June 6. The Waqf boards were required to register their properties but the process has been plagued by several technical glitches. Moreover, the records of a majority of the properties are centuries-old and the Waqf boards have been struggling with varying land-measurements across states that the standardised Umeed portal has failed to acknowledge. On Friday, Rijiju acknowledged that several MPs and leaders had approached him with a request to extend the deadline as nearly nine lakh properties were yet to be registered in the portal. He said that in view of such requests, the ministry will work out a solution. “After the Waqf (Amendment) Act was passed, we launched the Umeed portal. As per the Act, all Waqf properties in India were to be registered on the Umeed portal within six months. This was compulsory. Today is the last date, and lakhs of Waqf properties have not been registered,” he said. “For three months, we will not take any harsh steps, and there will be no penalty. In three months, Waqf properties should be registered on the portal. Those who have not been able to register properties should go to the [Waqf] Tribunals. The Supreme Court has given directions and said that there will be no extension, and the tribunals have the power… If there are reasons for your property not being registered so far, then Tribunals can extend it for six months… The government wants to help everyone. There can be no change in the Act passed by parliament,” said Rijiju.He added: “I would like to first of all say that 1.51 lakh Waqf properties have been registered so far on the Umeed portal. Some states have performed well, like Karnataka and Punjab… Some big states have lagged. I have been told that the portal was running slow in some places, and some people did not have documents.”When asked about Mutawallis who do not have records of old Waqf properties, the minister said, “If there is a Waqf property which doesn’t have papers, it will be looked into by the Tribunals. I cannot check those. If there is property that is Waqf, it will have documents. The Waqf Act has been brought to manage properties efficiently, and [to ensure] there is no misuse, and it is used for the poor and the backward.”Although the Union government claims that a digital database will ensure that these properties will be managed and protected better and in a transparent manner, several Waqf boards view the measure as a direct infringement of the government in management of religious bodies. Estimates indicate that there are around 8.8 lakh Waqf assets spread across the country, with Uttar Pradesh leading the states with nearly 1.4 lakh. West Bengal has an estimated 80,480 such properties and is placed second to Uttar Pradesh. Punjab (75,511), Tamil Nadu (66,092), Karnataka (65,242) follow these states in ranking. Except Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where Sunni and Shia boards function differently, all other states have unified Waqf boards.