Uttarakhand Madrassas have been advised to register themselves with the state education department within a month. According to the government, there are around 400 unregistered madrassas in the state, while 419 madrassas are registered with the Uttarakhand Madrassa Board.
Uttarakhand Social Welfare and Minority Welfare Minister Chandan Ram Dass said, “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." Of the 419 registered madrassas, 192 receive grants from the Centre and the state government.
Dass further added, “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." The initiative to get registered is aimed at the welfare of the students because only then can they benefit from the central and state government schemes, he said. As there were allegations that the grants given to the madrassas were not being appropriately utilised, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami recently stressed 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 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.