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UP budget 2018: Rs 404 crore for modernisation of madarsas
Modernisation of madarsas (Islamic schools) seems to be the main focus of chief minister Yogi Adityanath government, who not only increased the budget for minorities’ welfare by 10% but allocated its substantial chunk for upgrading and transforming the institutions.
Modernisation of madarsas (Islamic schools) seems to be the main focus of chief minister Yogi Adityanath government, who not only increased the budget for minorities’ welfare by 10% but allocated its substantial chunk for upgrading and transforming the institutions.
Of Rs 2,757 crore allocated under the minorities’ development and welfare schemes, Rs 404 crore has been set aside for the modernisation scheme for Arabi-Farsi madarsas.
“It’s a welcome step. We hope the funds would be utilized to provide modern education and improve teaching infrastructure as also the lot of ‘madarsa’ teachers,” said Mohd Farooq, who runs a madarsa on Lucknow-Sitapur highway.
The Yogi government has already taken a decision to introduce NCERT books and make math and science compulsory subjects at the higher secondary level in madarsas. Besides madarsas, a sum of Rs 486 crore has also been provided in the budget as grant for Arabic Schools.
To give a fillip to its madarsa registration scheme, the state government intends to provide another Rs 215 crore by way of grant to 246 permanently recognised Arabi-Farsi Madarsas of ‘Aalia Level.’
Last year, soon after coming to power, the BJP government had reduced the minority welfare budget by Rs 580 crores compared to the Akhilesh Yadav government. The total allocation for minorities welfare was Rs 2475.61 crores, which has been upped by Rs 282 crore (Rs 2,757 crore) this year.
For minority students, the Yogi government has allotted Rs 1500 crore for various scholarships and fee shortfall. Another key aspect is the provision to build female hostels in minority-dominated areas.
A sum of Rs 74 crore has been earmarked for the marriages of destitute and underprivileged. Akhilesh Yadav government had made a provision of Rs 100 crore for assisting marriages of Muslim girls.
“The budget sets aside a decent provision of Rs 800 crore for madarsas. Good. But I would have been more happy if the state government had decided to set up ITI, IIT, medical or management institute for the minorities,” says Fauzan Alvi, a young entrepreneur in meat procession business.
He said Muslims constitute around 20% of the state’s population. “If you look at it from proportional representation point of view it’s not much. But I guess, the time has come when the community should introspect and try to progress on its resources rather than rely on government aid,” he said.
