Delhi to register 'eligible' Madrasahs, finance them

New Delhi, April 27 (IANS) To reach out to minority votes ahead of the Delhi assembly elections in 2013, the Congress-led government Friday asked the state minority commission to facilitate the registration of eligible Madrasahs which could be provided financial assistance for imparting "purposeful" education.

The decision came in the wake of absence of authentic data on the number of Madrasahs in the capital which is the basic requirement to grant assistance to the seminaries.

This was decided at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who underlined the need for better education for more people belonging to the minority category.

"The Delhi Minorities Commission has been asked to facilitate registration/identification of eligible Madrasahs. It has also been decided that the Education Department will call for applications for registration through advertisements in daily newspapers," said a statement from the chief minister's office.

"The Madrasahs with enrolment of at least 50 students and already registered under the Societies Registration Act, Waqf Board and National Institute of Open Schooling will be considered initially for grant of assistance under a scheme for providing quality education in Madrasahs," added the statement.

Eligible Madrasahs will provide a per month salary of Rs.6,000 for graduate teachers and Rs.12,000 for post-graduate teachers.

Further, the eligible Madrasahs will also be allotted a one time grant of Rs.50,000 for library books and teaching aids and another Rs.1 lakh for science and computer labs.