400 Madrassas to get one month to register with education dept or face closure

NEW DELHI: Madrassas in Uttarakhand have been ordered to get themselves registered with the state education department within a month or face closure. There are around 400 unregistered madrassas in the state, according to the government.

"Madrassas have been served an ultimatum to register with the state education department within a month. If they fail to meet the deadline, steps will be taken to shut them," Uttarakhand Social Welfare and Minority Welfare Minister Chandan Ram Dass said. Currently, 419 madrassas are registered with the Uttarakhand Madrassa Board. Of these, 192 receive grants from the Centre and the state government. The state government estimates that there around 400 more madrassas and they remain unregistered.

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"Not registering with the state education department is harming the future of the students who study there as they face problems in getting admissions after Class V," Dass said. The direction to get registered is aimed at the welfare of the students because only then can they avail of benefits of the central and state government schemes, he added. As there were allegations that the grants given to the madrassas were not being appropriately utilised, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had recently underlined the need to have them surveyed.

State Waqf board chairman Shadab Shams said he had a word with the chief minister regarding the issue and a committee will soon be set up to survey the madrassas. Soon after taking over as the state Waqf board chairman last month, Shams had made a strong pitch for providing modern education in madrassas. He said the board plans to introduce the state education board syllabus in madrassas and provide similar education to its students as children in private and government schools. CCTV cameras will also be installed in madrassas to ensure transparency in their activities, he added. Uttarakhand Waqf Board runs 103 madrassas.