By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday strongly defended his government’s decision to set up a new educational authority in place of the Madrasa Board saying it would promote modern education and do away with the orthodox thinking.
The government in a new notification issued on Tuesday decided to form Uttarakhand State minority Educational Authority (USMEA) to replace it with the Madrasa Board. The Madrasa Board will be repealed on July 1 this year, officials said.
Under the new system, the authority and the state educational board will decide the syllabus for the minority institutions.
In October last year, Governor Lt Gen (retd) Gurmeet Singh has given his assent to the Uttarakhand Minority Education Bill-2025 to replace the Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board Act, 2016 which was passed by the former Congress government, a move decried by the main opposition.
Chief Minister Dhami had earlier stated that the new authority formed for the education system of minority communities, will work to grant recognition to minority educational institutions.
The Uttarakhand Cabinet on Aug 17 last year has approved the Minority Education bill which was later passed by the state assembly in the monsoon session few days later.
Under the new law, all minority communities in the state – Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis will get the status of minority educational institution.
Till now, the status of minority educational institution is given only to the educational institutions of the Muslim community in the state, experts said.
Under the new Act, the study of Gurumukhi and Pali language will also be possible in recognized minority educational institutions.
Under the new Act, recognition of minority educational institution will be granted by the authority only when certain conditions are fulfilled by the applicant. If any condition is violated or the money received from fees, donations, grants or any other funding source is found to be misused, the recognition of that institution can also be terminated.
Reacting to the decision, former Chief Minister Harish Rawat had called the BJP narrow-minded and asked why they avoid Urdu words like ‘Madrasa’. Rawat said, “BJP leaders are narrow-minded people. Madrasa is an Urdu word and Urdu is a product of Ganga-Jamuni culture. Madrasas have their own history which is connected with the freedom struggle of the country. Why do you avoid the word Urdu?” When asked if this is an attempt by the government to end madrasas, Rawat said that this is their intention. But, he said, “They will not be able to do this.”
State Congress senior Vice President Suryakant Dhasmana said it is anti-constitution as it violates the fundamental right under Articles 25 and 26.
On the other hand, Uttarakhand Madrasa Board President Mufti Shamoon Qazmi welcomed the decision and said “this will greatly benefit all communities, especially Muslims, in the future. They will get quality education.” He stressed that this will not affect religious education and it will be continued.