Kolkata, Sept. 13 -- The West Bengal government has ordered the closure of 252 unaided madrasas following a state-wide verification exercise, while around 100 others have been served show-cause notices over irregularities.
The survey, ordered in July, was conducted by district administrations across all 22 districts and the Kolkata area, covering management, student and teacher strength, infrastructure, registration and funding.
District magistrates reported around 2,132 madrasas with proper registration or affiliation, while 2,396 were functioning without registration or affiliation from any government authority or board. State-level inspection teams were later sent to re-verify the findings.
The department said the 252 madrasas facing closure lacked minimum infrastructure, including adequate classrooms, teachers or students. Some had also deviated significantly from the prescribed state school syllabus and administrative rules.
Malda tops the list with around 44-45 closures, followed by North Dinajpur (37-38), South 24 Parganas (32-33) and Birbhum (27-28). Murshidabad and Nadia have around 25 each.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya welcomed the move, calling for equal rights and opportunities for
children irrespective of religion and a modern, scientific and progressive education system. Supporting the show-cause notices, he cited former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's concerns over activities in Khariji madrasas, saying he later had to withdraw his remarks under pressure from his party.
TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh criticised the BJP narrative, saying madrasa education was one form of education and the entire system should not be branded on the basis of religion or allegations involving some institutions.
BJP leader Dilip Ghosh said only madrasas with statutory approval should operate, alleging that extremists had been arrested from institutions and anti-national activities reported there.
Khariji madrasas are independent Islamic schools without government funding, formal recognition or regulatory control, relying on donations and charitable trusts. The government said verification and enforcement would continue against unauthorised or non-compliant institutions.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.