
80 UP madrasas under SIT lens for Rs.100 cr foreign funding
The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has set up a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), to look into the financial sources of madrasas in the state.
Senior officials said that the SIT is now trying to identify the head under which the funds were spent by the madrasas and if there were any irregularities.
So far, 80 madrasas have been identified for receiving nearly Rs.100 crores as donations from several countries over the past two years.
The state has around 24,000 madrasas, of which over 16,500 are recognized by the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrasa Education.
“We will see how the money received through foreign funding has been spent. The brief is to check if the money is being used to run madrasas or for any other activities,” said Mohit Agarwal, Additional DG, ATS, who is heading the SIT.
Agarwal said that the state government has mentioned no time frame yet to complete the probe.
Sources said that the SIT has already sought details of registered madrasas from its board.
Last year, The Yogi Adityanath government directed District Magistrates to survey unrecognized madrasas.
During the two-month survey, 8,449 madrasas that were not recognized by the state madrasa education board were found to be functioning.
Apart from Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit, Shravasti, Siddharth Nagar, and Bahraich adjacent to the Nepal border, over 1,000 madrassas are being run in many other nearby areas. Sources said that the number of madrasas in these areas has increased rapidly in the past few years. Besides, information was also received about these madrasas getting foreign funding after which the SIT was formed.
The Minority Department probe has also revealed that many madrasas were receiving foreign funding.
Recently, the ATS has arrested three active members of a gang involved in the illegal entry of Bangladeshi citizens and Rohingyas. The investigation revealed that foreign funding of Rs.20 crore was received in three years through a Delhi-run NGO, which was being used to help them.
[With Inputs from IANS]
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
- Zomato to rebrand as ‘Eternal Ltd’ after Board approval, awaits shareholders’ nod - February 6, 2025
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to skip G20 Summit in South Africa, citing “anti-American” agenda - February 6, 2025
- Trump signs executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports - February 6, 2025