The Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Board has requested the state government to suspend the investigation against the aided and unaided madrasas by the Minority Welfare department.
Board’s Chairman Iftikhar Ahmed Javed has written a letter to Minority Affairs Minister Dharmpal Singh to issue directions to the department for suspending the investigation as the annual examinations of madrasa students were commencing from February 13.
Iftikhar Ahmed Javed said here on Friday that this issue was brought to the notice of the minister and he had issued verbal orders for suspending the inquiry.
Demanding written orders from the minister, Javed said despite the verbal orders by the minister there was no let up and the department had stepped up the speed of the inquiry.
He said the management and teachers of madrasas busy in preparing for the annual examinations were summoned by the officials of the department to seek different information.
He said since 2017, three inquiries had been conducted by the state government into the affairs of the aided and unaided madrasas and all relevant information relating to them was available on the portal. He said in the interest of the students, the inquiry should be conducted after the examinations conclude.
Meanwhile, the UP Madarsa Board has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him for the extension of the Madrasa Modernisation Scheme and release of funds for payment of the salaries of madrasa teachers.
Javed said the state government had stopped paying “additional money” to the Madarsa Board. On January 8, J Reebha, Director, UP Minorities Welfare and Waqf department, had directed all district minority officers to stop payment. The honorarium or additional money was being paid to madrasa teachers under the Centrally-sponsored Madrasa Modernisation Scheme from 2016.
The teachers allege that they have not been paid salaries since 2017. They say they are dependent on the “additional money” they have been getting since 2016.
Under the Madrasa Modernisation Scheme, modern teachers who are graduates get Rs 6,000 a month and those who are post-graduates are paid Rs 12,000. Instead of salaries, these teachers have been receiving the “additional money” – Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 for graduate and post-graduate teachers respectively – that was announced by the state government in 2016.
There are over 21,000 modern teachers posted in 7,442 recognised madrasas running across the state.