Centre’s scheme for madrassas lost in translation

NEW DELHI: The NDA government had allocated Rs 100 crore for modernization of madrassas in the last budget while the erstwhile UPA government had earmarked Rs 182.5 crore for the same in 2013-14. However, a lack of awareness about the scheme and language barrier seem to have prevented a majority of madrassas from availing its benefits.
According to an RTI application filed by NGO Zakat Foundation in 2013, only 2,800 madrassas benefitted from the central scheme.The reason for many not availing the benefits was because information about the scheme had not been translated into Urdu from English.
“The scheme has been there since 1996 but the funds have been curtailed over the years. There is a lack of awareness—not many know about the scheme as it’s not properly advertized. Madrassas are going for an image makeover and apart from the religious teaching, education is imparted there,” said Zafar Mehmood of Zakat Foundation.
According to people associated with Madrassa committees, most of these institutes are community-funded. Some of the community heads believe that Rs 100 crore is a mere tokenism and is not sufficient even for all Madrassas in Delhi.
“There are 33,000 madrassas in India, according to the Sachar committee report and many more must have come up by now. And this amount is too small to strengthen and modernize all the institutes. Madrassas are just like any other schools which need an investment of at least Rs 1 crore,” said Zafrul Islam Khan of All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat.
However, many argue that till the time these institutes aren’t recognized and affiliated to any education board, modernization will not help.