Mehbooba demands white paper on madrasa funding

‘J&K Govt has discredited the institution of madrasas’

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Dec 17: Principal opposition party, PDP, has demanded a ‘white paper’ on the controversy over Government of India’s funding to Madrasas in Jammu & Kashmir.

“This is a very serious issue as it involves not just huge financial transactions of dubious nature but also the reputation of one of the most respected institutions of our society,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said in a statement here today.

Mehbooba said like all other centrally sponsored schemes the state government seemed to have made a mess of the financial assistance released by New Delhi for the Madrasas in J&K which are established institutions of religious instruction. She pointed to the huge gap between the amount received from the government of India and figures released by the state government. “Where has the money gone?” she asked, saying someone in the government had to explain.

Mehbooba also said the obvious inconsistency in the financial allocations by the centre and its devolution to the ultimate users has a criminal implication and the govt must fully investigate it and come out with facts and figures immediately. But, of equal importance is the fact that the highly respected institution of Madrasas in the state has been brought into disrepute.

She said many leading institutions have already distanced themselves from the funding row and have categorically denied any receipts on that account. However in the process the prestige and reputation of the madrasa as an institution has suffered for which the govt is solely responsible. “Though this government has caused immense damage to almost all institutions of the state, the latest victim, the madrasas should have been spared as they are generally run with community participation,” she added.

Mehbooba said it apparently looks that some of the institutions which have benefited from the funds might even be non existent. How and under whose authority have they received govt money and whether any utilization certificates have been obtained needs to be known? She said the govt must come out with the particulars of every institution that has been shown as having received funds from the government.

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