Madrasa teachers from outside Assam instructed to appear 'from time to time' in police station: CM Himanta

Guwahat, Jan 02: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that all teachers who came from outside Assam to teach in Madrasas in the state may be asked to appear ''from time to time'' in the nearest police station.

The move comes after police cracked down on alleged modules of terrorist organisation Ansarul Bangla Team, and 51 Bangladeshis were discovered among the preachers at Madrasas, as reported by PTI.

The chief minister added that a checklist has been prepared for Madrasas, though the state is yet to "enter into an agreement with stakeholders but things are moving in the right direction."

'Rationalising' madrassa education

The Assam Police is working with Muslims in the state to 'rationalise' Madrasa education, he said on Sunday. There are some 3,000 registered and unregistered Madrasas in Assam.

Sarma said the police are coordinating with Bengali Muslims, who have a positive attitude towards education to create ''a good environment'' in the Madrasas.

Science and mathematics will also be taught as subjects in the Madrasas, and right to education respected and a database of teachers maintained, he said. ''They should not be considered as enemies, instead we want them as stakeholders,'' the chief minister added.

Madrassas under the radar

However, Assam is not the first state making headlines for its bid to enhance a regulatory oversight over madrassa education.

In December, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said that alleged objectionable content being taught in some madrassas in the state will be scrutinised.

Earlier, the UP government had initiated a survey of unrecognised Madrassas following the recommendation of state child protection body to look into the funding and abuses in these institutes. In a recent survey, it was found that 8,500 madrasas including prominent Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband were unrecognised by the Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Education Board. Only 558 of them are government-aided. Madrasas which are not recognized by the Board do not get benefit of government schemes like scholarship, salary for teachers, among others.

Portal to gather data on madrasas

Meanwhile, the government will develop a portal to gather information about recognised as well as unrecognised madrasas in the country, according to a parliamentary panel report.

The parliamentary standing committee report was tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday. To have a more comprehensive data of madrasas across the country, the Ministry of Minority Affairs told the panel that it has engaged an agency to develop a MIS (Management Information System) portal for the madrasas.

The committee said that it has not been given any date by which the ministry expects to have the said MIS portal. "Hence, the committee desires that MIS portal may be developed urgently in a time bound manner," it said.