UP CM Yogi Adityanath rolls out agenda for modernising madarsas in state

The UP budget has also made a provision of Rs 792 cr for scholarships to minority students

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh (UP) has started rolling out its agenda of modernising madarsa education in the state.

There are about 19,000 madarsas affiliated with the UP Madarsa Education Board, apart from 560 aided madarsas functioning in the state.

Madarsas are minority educational institutions offering study in Islamic theology and religious law.

The state government plans to modernise these institutions and introduce contemporary pedagogy to enable its students to come at par with students of other educational systems for better job opportunities.

In UP Annual Budget 2017-18, the Yogi government had allocated about Rs 1,700 crore towards minorities’ welfare. Of this, Rs 394 crore had been allocated towards imparting modern education in recognised madarsas and maqtabs (elementary schools).

In this context, the government has launched a dedicated portal, madarsaboard.upsdc.gov.in, for ushering in the modernisation of madarsas and ensuring transparency in their functioning.

The portal was launched by the state's Minorities Welfare and Dairy Development Minister Chaudhary Laxmi Narayan, who stressed on modernising madarsa education on the pattern of other educational systems for better technical education and job prospects.

Later, while speaking to reporters, he said that there was no database maintained by the madarsas as to the fate of their students once they passed out. Narayan maintained the purpose was to ensure that madarsa students also attained professional success like other students.

This move comes amid criticism from a section of the minorities and Opposition parties over the recent diktat of the Yogi government asking the aided madarsas to ensure the recital of the national anthem by their students during the Independence Day celebrations on August 15. They were also directed to videograph the event and submit the footage to the authorities.

UP Minister of State for Minority Welfare Baldev Aulakh said the portal would introduce accountability and transparency in the madarsa system and also simplify the processes.

The portal is an effort to link all madarsas to a unified ecosystem, wherein the grant, salary, wages, among other things, to madarsa teachers and staff would be facilitated through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) to check their exploitation.

Besides, the portal would check duplication of scholarships and pre-empt availing of government schemes by non-bona fide students, so that only genuine pupils benefited.

The UP budget had also made a provision of Rs 792 crore for scholarships to minority students, Rs 150 crore for fees reimbursement of minority students, Rs 18 crore for setting up of women’s hostels in minority-dominated areas for their educational and economic development, and Rs 341 crore towards the ‘Multi-sectoral District Development Plan’.