Assam Assembly passes bill to shut govt run madrasas

Guwahati, Dec 31 : Amid protests by the Opposition legislators, the Assam Assembly passed the Assam Repealing Bill 2020, that seeks to abolish the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1995 and the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Re-Organisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018, on the last day of the three-day winter session on Wednesday.
Assam Education and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who introduced the bill on Monday, said that bill was brought to make the academic environment of the state as “secular”.
Opposition MLAs belonging to Congress and All India United Democratic Front, a Muslim dominated party, walked out from the house after their demand to send the legislation to the select committee for “proper discussion” was rejected by the Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami.
The bill, which would now be sent to the governor for his assent, proposes to scrap government funding for madrassas, and mentions that the existing over 620 madrassas would be converted to general schools by April 1, 2021.
Sarma later in a tweet said: “Glad that the Bill pertaining to repeal of Provincialisation of Madrassas has been passed, even as Congress and AIUDF expectedly staged a walkout in Assembly. All Madrassas, being run under government stands, converted into regular educational institute wef April 1, 2021.” According to the bill, the State Madrassa Education Board in Assam, would also be disbanded, but it would have no bearing on status of allowances and service conditions of the teaching and non-teaching staff.