Inspection of institutions, which received aid the next year (2015-16), revealed that of the 64 madrasas, just 32 were functioning while 24 were shut and eight seminaries were not complying with the conditions
Blowing the lid off a shocking irregularity, a state government audit has revealed that a large number of madrasas, which took financial aid for mainstreaming students studying in these seminaries, were not operational or had flouted the norms.
A senior official from the state Minority Development Department said they had asked district authorities to inspect religious seminaries which were given funds under the state’s ‘Dr Zakir Husain Madrasa Modernisation Scheme’ for appointment of teachers, infrastructure development and scholarships.
He added that audit reports from two districts – Aurangabad and Nagpur -- had suggested that irregularities were rampant with a large number of beneficiary madrasas either being shut down or found breaching the conditions.
“The department may lodge cases of embezzlement and cheating against those running such institutions. Reports from other districts are awaited,” the official said.
Minority Development Minister Vinod Tawade confirmed that irregularities had come to the fore and that a probe had been sought. He said the government would strengthen the rules to weed out such beneficiaries.
The scheme named after the former President was launched in 2013 to mainstream students studying in Islamic seminaries by providing them facilities to learn modern subjects such asmaths and science and languages like English and Marathi. This will be in addition to the religious education imparted to them in these institutions. Only the madrasas registered with theWakf Board are eligible for aid under the scheme.
Another official from the department said that according to reports received from Aurangabad, of the 121 madrasas which had been given grants under the modernisation scheme in 2014-15, just 32 were functioning, while 69 seminaries were shut.
A total of 20 madrasas were found to be not complying with the norms like misusing funds or using them for non-designated purposes, not showing receipts of honorarium paid to the teachers imparting education in these subjects and not spending the entire amount.
Inspection of institutions, which received aid the next year (2015-16), revealed that of the 64 madrasas, just 32 were functioning while 24 were shut and eight seminaries were not complying with the conditions.
In Nagpur, 26 madrasas, which had been given grants in 2014-15 and 2015-16, had been inspected. Of these, four were found to be shut while 22 were functioning and had produced utilisation certificates for the funds received.
Shabbir Ahmed Ansari of All India Muslim OBC Organisation alleged that while the scheme was well-intentioned, political interference had ensured that ineligible madrasas had received aid while the claims of deserving ones were neglected. “Strict action must be taken against such guilty institutions and those who pushed for them. Eligible institutions must also be given funding,” he added.
In 2014-15 and 2015-16, the state government allocated Rs 18.80 crore and Rs 10.41 crore to 536 and 292 madrasas respectively across Maharashtra under the scheme.
Maharashtra has around 1,900 madrasas registered with the Wakf Board.
What madrasas get
- The Dr Zakir Husain Madrasa Modernisation Scheme was launched by the state government in 2013 under the Prime Minister's 15-point programme for educational upliftment and mainstreaming of children studying in Islamic seminaries.
- This included one-time grants of maximum Rs 2 lakh per madrasa for basic infrastructure such as drinking water, toilets and computers and Rs 50,000 for libraries, books and compass boxes. The state also provides annual recurring grants of Rs 5,000 for educational equipment.
- For teaching modern subjects such as science, maths, social sciences, Hindi, Marathi, English and Urdu, a maximum of three teachers with educational qualifications like BEd and DEd could be appointed with the honorarium being paid by the state.
- It provided scholarships to students from standard 9 to 12, who apart from religious education, sought admission in government schools.
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