By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
New Delhi : The Union Government has ruled out any plan being considered to form a central madrasa board in order to equip the Muslims with modern education and help improve their standard of education. Union Minister of State for Human Resources D. Purandeshwari told the Rajya Sabha in the written reply to a question raised by Member of Parliament Shahid Siddiqui Monday.
He however said that National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions has recommended the formation of a central madrasa board. He also informed the Rajya Sabha that the Government is running a programme to modernise madrasas, and has allocated funds to state governments under this programme during the last three years.
This is a paradigm shift in the government's policy as it had been giving clear indication of forming a central madrasa board, and has held consultations repeatedly with Muslim scholars and Ulema in this regard.
The fact is that with the revelation of Muslims' socio-economic and educational backwardness in the Sachar Commission Report the government has been laying more emphasis on the formation of a central madrasa board than on implementing the recommendations of the Report.
A large chunk of Indian Muslims opposed the government's move to form a madrasa board arguing that it would harm the very spirit of the objective of running madrasas. That is perhaps why the government has now ruled out the formation of a central madrasa board.