SC agrees to hear plea seeking extension of time for registration of waqf properties
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to list an application seeking extension of time for mandatory registration of all waqf properties, including waqf-by-users under the UMEED portal.
In an interim order, the top court had on September 15 put on hold a few key provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, including a clause that only those practising Islam for the last five years could create Waqf, but refused to stay the entire law outlining the presumption of constitutionality in its favour.
It also held the Centre’s order to delete the "waqf by user" provision in the newly-amended waqf law was prima facie not arbitrary and the argument that waqf lands would be grabbed by governments held “no water”.
Waqf by user refers to a practice where a property is recognised as a religious or charitable endowment (waqf) based on its long-term, uninterrupted use for such purposes, even if there isn't a formal, written declaration of waqf by the owner.
On Thursday, a bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai was urged by lawyer Nizam Pasha, appearing for AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, that a miscellaneous application seeking extension of time for registration of waqf properties be extended.
He said that six months time was given in the amended law for registration of the waqf properties and “Five months went during the judgement, we now only have one month left.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was in the courtroom in connection with another case, objected to the mentioning of the plea and said it should be intimated to the Centre.
“Let it be listed, listing does not mean granting (the relief),” the CJI said.
The Centre had on June 6 launched the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995 (UMEED) central portal to create a digital inventory after geo-tagging all waqf properties.
According to the mandate of the UMEED portal, details of all registered Waqf properties across India are to be mandatorily uploaded within six months.
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ASHA workers threaten indefinite strike from Feb 27 over rationalisation order, pending demands
Bengaluru: ASHA workers in Karnataka have warned of launching an indefinite strike from February 27, protesting a health department order to rationalise the workforce and alleging that long-pending demands have not been addressed.
The Karnataka State Joint ASHA Workers’ Association criticised the department’s decision to increase the population assigned to each ASHA worker, arguing that it violates existing norms and would lead to large-scale job losses. According to current norms, one ASHA worker is assigned for every 1,000 individuals. Under the current rationalisation plan, the allotted population in rural regions has been increased to up to 2,000, while in metropolitan areas with populations more than 50,000, the number has been raised from 1,000 to a minimum of 2,500 and a maximum of 3,000.
Deccan Herald quoted D Nagalakshmi, state secretary of the ASHA Union affiliated to AITUC, as saying the department had conveyed that an honorarium of ₹10,000 could not be ensured unless the population coverage per worker was increased. She alleged that workers were effectively being asked to accept higher workloads while excess ASHAs would be removed. “This would render nearly 7,000 to 8,000 ASHA workers jobless, and such a move is being carried out only in Karnataka,” she said.
At present, the state government pays ASHA workers a monthly honorarium of ₹5,000, while the Centre provides performance-based incentives. Workers said accessing these incentives has become difficult as data must be entered on the ASHA portal by primary health community officers, but vacancies in these posts have not been filled.
The workers have also submitted a set of pre-Budget demands, seeking an increase in the combined state and central incentives to ₹15,000 and enhancement of the state honorarium to ₹ 8,000, in line with promises made in the Congress election manifesto. Other demands include a lump-sum retirement benefit on the lines of West Bengal, creation of a corpus fund to meet treatment expenses of ASHA workers suffering from serious illnesses with reimbursement provisions, and payment of a fixed monthly honorarium for up to three months during recovery from severe illness.
ASHA workers had staged an indefinite protest in January over similar issues. On the fourth day of the agitation, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah intervened and assured the workers that their demands would be met.
