In a significant development, Assam’s Minister of Education and Finance, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has announced that the state government has decided to close all state-run Sanskrit madrasas and tols (schools), as it is not possible for the government of Assam uses public funds to teach religion. deeds.
“The policy of our government that we had previously announced in the State Assembly. There should be no religious education with government funding,” he told the media. “We have nothing to say about private madrasas and Sanskrit tols,” Sarma added.
According to Sarma, the state government will issue a formal notification in this regard in November.
Sarma said that after the closure of the madrasas, 48 hired teachers would be transferred to schools run by the Department of Education.
The head of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal criticized the state government’s decision, saying that if the state government decides to close the government-run madrasas, his party would take steps to reopen these educational schools. after coming. to power in the 2021 Assembly poll.
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“Madrassas cannot be closed. We would reopen these 50-60 year old madrassas if this BJP government forcibly closes them,” said Ajmal, who is also a deputy.
In particular, Assam has 614 government-supported madrasas: 57 for girls, three for boys, and 554 mixed. A total of 17 madarasas teach students in the Urdu medium. There are about 1,000 Sanskrit tols in Assam, of which about 100 receive government aid.
The Assamian government spends around Rs 3-4 crore on madrasas and around Rs 1 crore on Sanskrit tols annually.
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