Uttarakhand approves Minority Education Bill 2025; Madrasa Act to be repealed

The Uttarakhand Cabinet has approved the Minority Education Bill 2025, which will grant minority status to educational institutions run by Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, and Parsi communities. Currently, only the Madrasa’s in the state have been part of the status.

The Bill will form an authority to grant mandatory recognition to institutions established by all minority communities, the PTI reported.

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a cabinet meeting today to approve the bill, which will be introduced in the monsoon session of the assembly, starting from August 19, it said.

Notably, the Minority Education Bill 2025 will repeal the existing Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Act 2016, and the Uttarakhand Non-Government Arabic and Persian Madrasa Recognition Rules, 2019, as reported by the PTI.

Praising the bill, Mufti Shamoon Qazmi, President of the Uttarakhand Madrasa Board told PTI, "This will greatly benefit all communities, especially Muslims, in the coming times. They will get quality education. The move would not affect religious education, and it would continue as before.”

The bill will be effective from July 1, 2026, as per the report, citing official sources.

Also read Modi Government spent less than 20% of budget for minority scholarships in 2024-2025

Minority Education Bill: Strict guidelines to claim recognition

Additionally, as per the new regulations, the study of the Gurumukhi and Pali languages will also be ‘possible’ in recognised minority educational institutions, the government news agency said.

The Bill aims to promote and foster educational excellence in the minority-run institutions in order to provide quality education to children of the minority community, it said.

However, the cabinet has also set up certain conditions for the educational institutions to be eligible for the recognition. As per the bill, if the funds received from fees, donations, grants, or any other funding source are found to be misused, the recognition of that institution can also be terminated, PTI stated, citing sources.

Expressing his views on the newly-approved minority bill, Harish Rawat, former chief minister of Uttarakhand told PTI: “BJP people are narrow-minded. Madrasa is an Urdu word, and Urdu is the product of Ganga-Jamuni culture. Madrasas have their own history associated with the country's freedom struggle. ... Why do you have a problem with the Urdu word?"

Rawat also alleged that the intention of the government is to abolish madrasas in the state, but they will not be able to achieve it, he added.

The report further explains that the authority will also work to impart education in these institutions as per the standard set by the Uttarakhand Board of School Education.