Uttarakhand Cabinet Approves Minority Education Bill 2025

The Uttarakhand Cabinet on Monday approved the Minority Education Bill 2025 that would extend minority status benefits to institutions run by the Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, and Parsi communities in the state. Under the current bill, the minority educational institution status is only granted to the Muslim community, PTI reported. 

The bill will be introduced in the monsoon session of the Assembly which commences on August 19. Once it is implemented, the study of the Gurumukhi and Pali languages will also be possible in recognised minority educational institutions. The Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board Act, 2016, and the Uttarakhand Non-Government Arabic and Persian Madrasa Recognition Rules, 2019 will be scrapped after its implementation. 

The bill states that all minority educational institutions must seek recognition from an authority established under its purview. This authority will work to facilitate and promote educational excellence in these institutions so that the children of the minority community get quality education and their educational development can take place, sources told PTI. 

There will be certain conditions that the institution would have to fulfill in order to gain recognition. According to sources, this will be the first such Act in the country that aims to establish a transparent process for granting recognition to educational institutions established by minority communities in the state as well as ensure quality and excellence in education. 

Reacting to this decision of the Cabinet, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Harish Rawat called the BJP narrow-minded and asked why it is averse to Urdu words like 'madrasa'.

Rawat told reporters that, "BJP people are narrow-minded. Madrasa is an Urdu word, and Urdu is the product of Ganga-Jamuni culture. Madrasas have their own history associated with the country's freedom struggle. ... Why do you have a problem with the Urdu word?" Asked if it was an attempt by the government to abolish madrasas, Rawat said, "This is their intention. But they will not be able to do it." 

However, Uttarakhand Madrasa Board President Mufti Shamoon Qazmi welcomed the decision and said, "This will greatly benefit all communities, especially Muslims, in the coming times. They will get quality education." He stressed that the move would not affect religious education, and it would continue as before. 

With PTI inputs