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Madrasa Board set up; Congress, BJP decry move

LUCKNOW, AUG. 24. The Uttar Pradesh Government today announced to constitute a Madrasa Board for conducting high school and intermediate examinations of students studying in Madrasas, even as the Congress and Opposition BJP criticised the move.

The State Cabinet meeting here, chaired by the Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, decided to bring in an Ordinance to set up the Board.

Briefing mediapersons, the State Chief Secretary, V. K. Mittal, said with the setting up of the Madrasa Board, all the 1,100 madarsas in the State would get statutory recognition. Out of the total madrasas, only 291 were being aided by the State Government while there are 4,500 teachers in the madrasas of the State.

The Samajwadi Party's (SP) ally, the Congress said: ``This is a mere damage control exercise on behalf of the Chief Minister to appease minorities who were confused over the increasing proximity between the SP and BJP,'' said the UP Congress chief spokesperson, Akhilesh Pratap Singh.

Though we do not oppose any move to further development of either the minorities or the majority community, but the State Government would have to ensure that the level of education was not compromised,'' he added.

The BJP State unit president, Hriday Narain Dikshit, alleged that while the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Arjun Singh, was appeasing minorities on behalf of the UPA, Mr. Mulayam Singh was doing the same on behalf of his SP.

``As it is, whether degrees to be issued by the Madrasa Board would be recognised by others is a debatable issue,'' he claimed.

According to the Government, the Board will function on the lines of Sanskrit Board and will hold regular examinations for high school and intermediate and will issue certificates.

The Chief Minister had announced to set up the Madrasa Board during the recently- concluded assembly session. The Government had earlier decided to set up Maulana Ali Jauhar University for Urdu and Persian.

UNI

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