: Weekly holidays at madrassas recognised by the Uttarakhand State Authority for Minority Education (USAME) are observed on Sundays instead of Fridays, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Wednesday.
The decision affects madrassas that have received formal recognition under the Uttarakhand State Authority for Minority Education, a regulatory body established in July. Surjit Singh Gandhi, chairman of the Uttarakhand Minority Education Authority, said the authority has granted recognition under the new law to 76 madrassas in the state, and the education department is currently processing another 114 accreditation applications. Parag Madhukar Dhakate, secretary of the minority affairs department, said authorities sealed 250 unregistered madrassas during last year’s crackdown after discovering they were operating without registration and enrolling children from other states.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Police Commemoration Day event in Dehradun, Dhami said, “There should be a consistent system for everyone, and all educational institutions should move in the same direction”.
The authority replaced a dedicated madrassa board after legislation passed in August last year brought institutions run by Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, and Parsi communities under a single state-monitored framework.
