Yogi govt holding a survey of Madrasas in UP, alleges Owaisi

UP government issued instructions to conduct a survey of unrecognized madrasas by September 10. Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that Yogi Adityanath's government wants to harass Muslims on the pretext of the survey.

Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh has reportedly issued instructions to all the district magistrates of the state to conduct a survey and identify unrecognized madrasas by September 10. The order was reportedly issued on Wednesday. The survey team will include sub divisional magistrates, district minority officers and others. There has been an uproar in the political corridor since the Yogi government issued the survey order. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has alleged that the UP government is implementing NRC (National Register of Citizens) in the state on the pretext of the survey.

As per reports here, Owaisi said "Madrasas across the country including Uttar Pradesh have been built as per Article 30. Then why did the UP government order the survey?" He said that this is not a survey but a mini-NRC. "Some madrasas in Uttar Pradesh are under the UP Madarsa Board. The government cannot interfere with our rights under Article 30," he added.

According to the reports, there are a total of 16,461 madrasas in Uttar Pradesh, out of which 560 are given financial grants by the government. Under the survey, the name of the madrasa, the name of the organization operating it, and information about the building of the madrasa will be collected. Apart from this, the number of students staying, drinking water, furniture, electricity and toilet arrangements, the number of teachers, curriculum implemented in the madrasa and source of income will be investigated.

State's Minister of State for Minority Welfare, Danish Azad Ansari has already given clarification on this dispute. Danish Azad Ansari had said in his statement that the intention of the government is to provide basic facilities to the students in madrasas as per the requirement of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.