Soon, Each Madrassa In UP Will Need Unique ID and Geo-Tagging

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government wants 16000 madrassas under the state Madrassa Shiksha Parishad to be geo-tagged. They will now be tracked by the government through a GPS-based service and each madrassa will get a ‘unified district information system for education (UDISE)’ code.

While the state government has said it has been done for better administration and weeding out fake teachers and pupils, madrassas are questioning Yogi Adityanath government’s intentions.

Speaking to News18, the former head of madrassa board, Professor Zainus Sajedin said, “Had this directive been issued for the better administration of both madrassas and the government schools, I would have believed it. But since it is only for the madrassas, I have my doubts.”

“The government is suspicious of us and has hence brought out the new order to keep a track on us. They need to be reminded of the role of ulemas in the freedom struggle,” Sajedin added.

Sajedin had introduced Indian Constitution in the madrassas syllabus. “The reason behind bringing the Constitution to the class was to educate students about their rights and duties. The government will soon try to change the syllabus of the madrassas, but they are not authorized to do so.”

Questioning the priorities of the government, he said, “The government should focus on the vacancies. There are vacancies in the Parishad which should be filled with people who know Arabic, Urdu, Persian.”

The UP government has also asked madrassas to share maps of their premises, photographs of classrooms, and bank account details of teachers. They will be required to upload each employee’s Aadhaar card details on the government portal. The directive was issued by principal secretary Monika Garg. If madrassas want to retain government funding, they will have to register with a newly-launched website madarsaboard.upsdc.gov before October 15.

Iqbal Beg, a teacher in Bareilly madrassa said, “The directive is to trouble the madrassas – we are recognized but don’t take funding from the government. This is only how we can maintain our autonomy.”

Beg added, “I had deliberately avoided becoming part of the state board because if you take funds, you also have to face suspicion and orders that hinder your independence.”