New Delhi

As the survey of Madrasas, Islamic schools that were primarily meant to teach Quran and Islam to Muslim students, in India’s largest State of Uttar Pradesh gains pace, the government has issued clear guidelines for conducting the exercise and said there is no scope for misgivings on it.

The Yogi Adityanath government had ordered a survey of all unrecognized private madrasas running in the state. Teams had been set up for the survey at the district and tehsil levels by September 10 and the work has already begun.

 The survey will be finished by October 15 and the teams have to submit their reports by 25 September.

A Class in progress inside a Madrasa

The following are the 12 Questions included in the Survey:

What is the full name of Madrasa?

What is the name of the organization running Madrasa?

Which year was the Madrasa establishment:

Full details of the location of Madrasa.- whether running in a private building or a rented building.

Is the seminary building suitable for students?

What facilities do the Madrasa students get?

What is the total number of students studying in the seminary?

What is the total number of teachers working in the madrassa?

What curriculum is followed in Madrasa?

What is the source of Madrasa's income?

Are the students studying in madrasas also enrolled in any other educational institution?

Is the seminary affiliated with any non-governmental organization or group? If yes, give full details.

The surveyor will record his observations on all the above points on the information provided by the madrasa’s management.

Check list for survey of Madrasas in UP

Dharam Pal Singh, a senior minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet said that the survey is meant to find out the deficiencies in the Madrasa education in the unregistered and unrecognized Madrasas in the State. The government had stopped the registration of Madrasas 12 years ago.

He said there should be no misunderstanding in this regard.

He said only after the survey’s findings, the shortcomings of madrasas can be addressed. The government is trying to ensure that the children of Madrasas have laptops with Quran in their hands. He blamed the opposition for raising this issue for political reasons.

He said, the aim is to bring Madrasas into the national mainstream.

Students inside a Madrasa

The only Muslim minister in UP, Danish Ansari said that the chief minister government aims to bring madrasas into the mainstream. He asked what is wrong in modernizing madrasas and in connecting their curriculum to modern ways.

He asked the critics to look into the format of the seminary survey before raising it as an issue.

The state government had stopped recognizing madrasas for 12 years. Due to this, a large number of unregistered Madrasas continue to operate in the state with India’s largest Muslim population.

Maulana Fazal Shan, director of madrasas located in Jeongarh and Zakirnagar, says that the government has banned the recognition of madrasas. If the government agrees that Madrasas should be run in a better way, then we aim to provide modern education along with religion in Madrasas which, he said, requires financial support.

In many Madrasas, the operators had no record of donations to provide to the survey teams. A team led by Block Education Officer of Basic Education Department Nagar LB Dwivedi reached several places in the city to investigate the seminary. His team got all information from the madrasa operators about the operation of the madrasa, but they couldn’t furnish the list of donations and donors for the seminaries of Madrasa Faizan-e-Mustafa located in Johar Bagh.

This Madrasa is functioning since 1990 and is affiliated with the Madrasa Board up to class 5. The team has sought information about the 12 points from the seminary operator Syed Jamal.

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The block education officer was told that the Madrasa management charges Rs 10 per month as fee from each students and the rest of the money comes from undocumented donors.