UP to stop honorarium for madrasa teachers appointed under Centre's Madrasa Modernisation Scheme

Lucknow: In a decision which will impact around 21,000 teachers appointed under the Centre's Madrasa Modernisation Scheme in Uttar Pradesh, the state government has decided to stop the payment of honorarium for them.

According to the sources, a directive to this effect was sent to the district officials a few days back.

Sources said that under the Madrasa Modernisation Scheme, which was launched by the Centre in 1993, around 21,000 teachers were appointed to teach subjects like Hindi, English, Science, Mathematics and Social Science with a view to ensure that the students were also taught other subjects besides Islam.

The scheme was rechristened as the 'Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madarsa'' in the year 2008. The teachers appointed under the scheme with graduate and post-graduate degrees were paid an honorarium of Rs 6,000 per month and Rs 12,000 per month respectively.

The Centre provided 60 per cent assistance under the scheme while the state government provided the rest. In 2016, the then Akhilesh Yadav government had increased the honorarium to the graduate teachers by Rs 2,000 and the post-graduate teachers by Rs 3,000.

Sources said that the Centre had sanctioned this scheme only up to 2021-22 and had informed the state government that it would not provide its share of honorarium under the scheme. The state government had however continued to pay the honorarium to these teachers.

Sources quoting a senior official of the minority welfare department said that now the state government has also decided to stop payment of the honorarium.

The decision could have serious implications for the 21,000 and they could end up losing their jobs.

Madarsa Education Council President Iftikhar Ahmed Javed said that the decision would adversely impact efforts to modernise the madrasas and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene.

UP Minister of State for Minority Welfare Danish Ansari said that the honorarium has been stopped following a similar decision by the Centre. ''We are trying to find a solution,'' he added.