PIL to regulate education imparted in madrasas, gurukuls: HC seeks Centre's reply

The Delhi High Court sought the Centre's response on Wednesday on a plea seeking directions to it to regulate the education being imparted in the madrasas and gurukuls in the country.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Brijesh Sethi issued notice to the ministries of human resource development and minority affairs, seeking their stand on the joint plea moved by a Congress MLA from West Bengal and an RTI activist from the state.

Right to Information (RTI) activist Sunil Saraogi and Congress MLA Akhruzzaman, in their petition filed through advocate Vidhan Vyas, have claimed that the academic syllabus followed in these institutions "are still stuck in the 18th century with the Holy Quran, Urdu and Persian being the only subjects".

"This severely impacts the job prospects of the students studying at these madrasas," the petition has alleged.

It has also alleged that the "children attending such institutions are unable to compete with their peers with respect to job and future opportunities".

"This will ultimately result in a section of 'young India' not being able to develop their faculties fully and contribute to the task of nation building," the petition says.

According to the petition, there are around 3,000 madrasas in the national capital alone and about 3.6 lakh students study in these institutions.

It has sought a direction to the authorities to "bring all the madrasas, maktabahs and gurukuls within a regulated and recognised legal framework by mandatory registration".