The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered officials to take action against nearly 8500 unaffiliated madrasas “as per law.”
State minister for minority welfare, Muslim Waqf and Haj, Dharampal Singh, said he had ordered department officials to upload a list of all madrasas which are not affiliated on the department portal and the MELA app so that parents get correct information regarding the madrasa and they do not end up sending their children to the “wrong institutes where they can be misled.”
According to the survey, the minister said that 8,441 unaffiliated madrasas have been identified in which nearly 7,64,164 students, both girls and boys, were enrolled.
He said, “These children are the future of our country and to ensure that they are aligned with mainstream society, it is necessary that they be given access to modern education.”
The department had also been able to identify the means of funding for the unaffiliated madrasas, Singh said adding that in most cases, donations and zakat were the main sources of funding.
In order to provide education as per the new education laws to children from the minority community, he directed the officials to take action against unrecognised madrasas as per law.
On September 10, the survey on madrasas was started in all districts on the orders of the BJP-led state government, stating that the survey will only be used to improve the level of education in the madrasas. The district magistrates submitted their survey reports on Tuesday.
Moradabad (550) had the highest number of unaffiliated madrasas in the state, according to the survey.
Dr Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, chairman of Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrasa Education told the Indian Express, “People running unaffiliated madrasas are contacting us and showing interest in getting the institution affiliated to the UP Board of Madrasa Education. After recognition, these madrasas will also be able to avail benefits of various government welfare schemes. The successful completion of the survey has set an example for other states too.”
