More than half of Azamgarh madrasas violate norms: Govt

 Azamgarh DMWO Sahitya Nikash Singh said the inquiry, which began in September 2017, found 304 madrasas placed false details on the portal. (Picture for representational purpose only)  

A government physical verification of 675 madrasas in Azamgarh district has revealed that over half of them did not confirm to rules – some did not exist at the address provided, some were violating class norms and some others had private schools operating instead. These madrasas are likely to be de-recognised from the UP Board of Madrasa Education. The verification was conducted by the district minority welfare officer (DMWO) based on details uploaded on the Board’s website. Azamgarh DMWO Sahitya Nikash Singh said the inquiry, which began in September 2017, found 304 madrasas placed false details on the portal.

“I have sent a report to the Board in Lucknow on Tuesday recommending cancelling the recognition of 304 madrasas. These madrasas were found not satisfying the Board’s standards. In the report, I have mentioned reason why the recognition needed to be cancelled,” said Singh. In a bid to check irregularities in madrasas, the UP government had launched the UP Board of Madrasa Education portal in August last year. The government had instructed madrasas to upload pictures of classrooms or total area, number of teachers and employees, their Aadhaar numbers, account details, etc in order to bring “transparency”.

In all, details of 18,225 madrasas were uploaded and the Board directed all DMWOs to physically verify the details. When contacted, Board’s Registrar Rahul Gupta said a state-wide verification of 18,225 madrasas was ongoing. Of the total madrasas registered, 560 are government-aided, 140 are registered under small industrial technical institutes and 8,550 are attached with Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrasa.

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Meanwhile, the Board has also been verifying details of the land on which 78 government-aided madrasas were running in the state. Minority Welfare Department Director SN Pandey had formed a three-member committee last month to verify the details and submit a report.

“While examining records of madrasas uploaded on portal, we found around 40 madrasas built on government land including that of gram sabha. In other cases, madrasa buildings were not upto the required standard. The committee has sent notices to all these madrasas seeking their reply,” said Pandey.