File photo of Himanta Biswa Sarma (Image: PTI / Archive)
Assam’s Education and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state government will issue a formal notification in this regard in November.
- IANS Guwahati
- Last update: October 10, 2020 8:55 AM M. IST
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Assam government to close all state madrasas and Sanskrit tols (schools) as it cannot afford to teach religious scriptures with public funds, the state Minister of Education and Finance Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
“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 privately run madrasas and Sanskrit tols,” he added.
Sarma said the state government will issue a formal notification on the matter in November.
After the closure of the madrasas, 48 hired teachers are likely to be transferred to schools under the Department of Education.
Following the government’s announcement, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) head and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal said that if the BJP-led government closed the government-run madrasas, his party would reopen them after coming to power. in the Assembly next year. elections.
“Madrasahs cannot be closed. We would reopen these 50-60 year old madrasas if this BJP government forcibly closes them,” said Ajmal, also a member of Lok Sabha.
There are 614 government-assisted madrasas in Assam: 57 for girls, three for boys, and 554 coed, 17 of them in Middle Urdu. There are about 1,000 recognized Sanskrit tols, of which about 100 receive government aid.
The state government spends around 3 to 4 million rupees in madrasas and around 1 million rupees in Sanskrit tols in the state annually.
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