NCPCR seeks probe report on madrasas admitting non-Muslim kids

New Delhi:  The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has written a letter to the Chief Secretaries of states and union territories asking them to conduct a detailed investigation of all government funded/recognised madrasas which admit non-Muslim children.

The Commission recommended mapping of all unmapped madrasas.

The development comes after the NCPCR received complaints of non-Muslim children being imparted religious education in some madrasas without their parents’ consent.

In the letter, the Commission stated that many children were enrolled in institutions like madrasas in various states across the country.

According to the NCPCR, there are three types of madrasas namely Recognized, Unrecognized and Unmapped.

The Commission noted that the madrasas which are funded or recognized by the government provided religious and to some extent formal education.

The letter further stated that in the view of the complaints received, it was observed that children from non-Muslim communities were studying in government funded/recognised madrasas.

Apart from this, the Commission said that some state governments provided scholarships to the students, which was a violation of Article 28(3) of the Constitution of India, that prohibits educational institutions from compelling children to participate in any religious education without parental consent.

The body instructed the Chief Secretaries to include physical verification of children attending such madrasas in their probe and said that all such children should be admitted to schools for formal education.

The Chief Secretaries have been ordered to submit the report within a month.IANS