Himanta Biswa Sarma | Assam will close all state madrasas and Sanskrit schools from November; lack of funds cited as reason

New Delhi: The Assamian government will close all state madrasas and Sanskrit schools from November due to lack of funds.

In making the announcement, Assam’s Minister of Education and Health, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said that the government will publish a notice on the matter.

In response to the state government’s statement, the head of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Badruddin Ajmal, said that if the state government decides to close the government-run madrasas, his party will reopen these educational schools once he arrives. to power in the Assembly of 2021. survey.

The state government cites lack of funds as the reason

According to media reports, Assam has 614 government-assisted madrasas and around 1,000 Sanskrit schools in Assam.

Reports further suggest that the Assamian government spends around Rs 3-4 crore on madrasas and around Rs 1 crore on Sanskrit schools every year.

Assam first announced its decision to close madrasas and Sanskrit schools in February this year.

The opposition, including Congress, launched a scathing attack on the Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP government, with Assam’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind threatening legal action.

Secular entity of the state government: Himanta Sarma

In February, Sarma had also said that they would become upper secondary and secondary schools offering regular courses, as it is not the government’s job to provide funds to institutions to teach religious, Arabic or other similar languages.

Sarma had said that there were about 1,200 madrasas and 200 Sanskrit learning centers in Assam.

He further said that if people teach religion using their own money, then there is no problem, however, if state funds are used to teach the Holy Quran, then we have to teach the Gita and the Bible as well.

The government is a secular entity, therefore it cannot finance organizations involved in religious teaching, he added.