Uttarakhand clears bill to regulate minority educational institutions; set to repeal Madrasa Act

New Delhi: The BJP government in Uttarakhand on Sunday cleared a bill to regulate minority educational institutions in the state by setting up an authority that will also decide on the academic curriculum to be followed by these institutions.

A Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami cleared the Uttarakhand Minority Education (UME) Bill that is slated to be introduced in the upcoming Assembly session this week.

Uttarakhand is also the first state to have introduced a law to implement a Universal Civil Code (UCC) to regulate personal laws including marriages, divorce and adoption.  

Like the UCC, the bill on minority education also proposes to bring all minority community-run institutions under the ambit of the regulatory authority. Until now, only institutions run by the Muslim community have been recognised as minority educational institutions.

With the enactment of the law, the Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board Act, 2016, and the Uttarakhand Non-Government Arabic and Persian Madrasa Recognition Rules, 2019, will stand repealed.

The other key features of the bill include mandatory approval from the authority to qualify as a minority educational institution. The authority has, however, been authorised to decide the curriculum for the institutions and ensure that education is imparted in accordance with the Board of School Education.  

There are around 450 madrasas registered in Uttarakhand, mostly in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. In recent months, the state government has acted against 237 illegal madrasas.

Uttarakhand is also home to some of the top Christian minority-run educational institutions and schools in Mussoorie, Dehradun and Nainital.