U.P. govt to crackdown on unregistered madrasas receiving foreign funds
Investigations have revealed that the money in these madrasas was coming in from countries like Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Bangladesh, and UAE.
LUCKNOW Following the ongoing madrasa board examinations, the Uttar Pradesh government is likely to crackdown on unregistered madrasas receiving foreign funds. According to government reports, about 4,000 madrasas receive foreign funds across the state but several of them don’t have legitimate records of these sources.
In this regard, an action plan has been chalked out by the officials of the minority welfare department and the police. It is pertinent to mention here that the state government conducted a survey of unrecognised madrasas last year. This survey highlighted the ambiguity around the source of income of several madrasas. As per the survey, 8,441 madrasas were found running without registration.
Several such unregistered madrasas are running in districts adjacent to the Nepal border. Besides, a majority of these madrasa operators have been reluctant in sharing information about their source of funding. Most of them claim that their madrasas run on money from donations. Among these, more than 4,000 madrasas were found to have received foreign funding.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an official of the minority welfare department said, “Many madrasa management are surprisingly parroting the same reply. Most of them say that they get funds from big metro cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, and Hyderabad. However, investigations have revealed that the money in these madrasas was coming in from countries like Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Bangladesh, and UAE. The madrasa operators have not even been able to provide relevant documents relating to these donations.”
When asked about the issue, Dharampal Singh, state minister for minority welfare department, said, “The government wants children of the minority community to get modern education. However, it has been found that many madrasas are getting funds from abroad. Due to this, kids from financially weaker sections of minority communities are lured into questionable activities. Following a probe, legal action will be taken against such madrasas.”