The UP Govt decision to scrutinise madarsas has raised some concerns, which it must clarify

The survey of unrecognised madarsas is underway in Uttar Pradesh. The UP Government had passed the order to this effect. The Government maintains that the survey would benefit madarsas and they would try to affiliate the eligible madarsas with the 'State Madarsa Board' for providing them with better facilities and also provide grants in aid etc. But the survey has already become a political issue. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has criticised the move, saying it would hurt religious sentiments and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has gone as far as questioning the motives of the Government and said it is NRC on a mini scale. So far the survey exercise has been peaceful and the madarsas have been cooperating with the State. Nonetheless, some issues bring the rationale for conducting the survey suspect. Per se, there is nothing wrong with surveying unrecognised schools. The Government must have data on how the children are studying and under what conditions. It must have first-hand information about the salaries the teachers get and the quality of education provided to the students.

Moreover, the Government's contention that the survey would also help connect its schemes to these schools is also a welcome gesture. Most of the madarsas are run on community donations and often they run in pretty bad shape. Having said that, there are things that the Government is silent upon or has not cared to clarify. The first and foremost is why only madarsas? If the State wants to survey unrecognised schools, it should have added Hindu gurukuls, Christian missionary schools and other schools also which fall under the same category. That would make the exercise more transparent and its motives more benign. Secondly, if the Government is so keen to provide the madarsas with grant through its various schemes, it could have asked them to apply for them and those applying could have been inspected for their eligibility. That was not obviously the case. Moreover, the Muslim community has misgivings about the Government's intentions and feels that those madarsas that fail on the 12-point survey would be either closed or demolished. Despite the categorical assurance by Danish Ansari, the Minority Minister of UP, that no madrasa will be closed or bulldozers used on madrasas, the Muslim community is far from assured. What the UP Government would do with the survey remains to be seen.