The Uttarakhand government has decided to place madrasas under scrutiny by conducting an intensive verification drive of inmates in the non-hill areas of four districts. The government has written to district magistrates in these four districts where the targeted madrasas are situated.
Officials in the Chief Minister’s Office said the verification drive will focus on madarsa inmates mainly in four districts, including Dehradun. According to officials, a thorough probe will be conducted by the local police and district administration, focusing on the origins of the children coming to the madrasas and whether the minority institutions sought parental consent. The administration has also been directed to identify those responsible for bringing children to madrasas without parental consent or through deception.
Speaking on the government’s order to verify madrasa inmates, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that child safety, transparency in the functioning of institutions, and compliance with rules are among the top priorities. He warned that strict action would be taken if any irregularities were found during the verification drive.
IFS officer and Special Secretary in the Uttarakhand Minority Welfare Department, Dr Parag Madhukar Dhakate, said that district magistrates of Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital have been instructed to conduct comprehensive verification drives in madrasas in their respective districts and submit first-hand reports to the state administration in Dehradun. Besides Haridwar and Udhamsingh Nagar, the targeted madarsas in Dehradun and Nainital district are located mainly in the plains, he added.
Dhakate said the state government has ordered an investigation into all madrasas in Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital districts. He added that the government had received persistent complaints that children from other states were being brought to madrasas here, and that several admissions were made without permission from their parents.