Maha govt to issue notices to 2,472 minority institutions for allegedly violating norms

Mumbai: Maharashtra government on Friday said it would issue notices to 2,472 minority educational institutions across the state which have not followed guidelines and ‘misused’ their status to admit general category students. [caption id=“attachment_2235856” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis. PTI[/caption] “The government has asked all 2,472 minority and linguistic minority educational institutions to give details if they have complied with stipulated norms of giving 70 percent admissions to students from the minority community. “They have also been asked to get themselves registered on the department website. The government might take suo moto action against institutions which fail to comply with these norms,” Maharashtra Minorities Affairs Minister Eknath Khadse told reporters in Mumbai. “There are 1,060 religious minority institutes and 1,412 linguistic minority educational institutes across the state. The state government has received several complaints against these institutions regarding admissions,” he said. He said that some minority institutions do not reveal their minority status and thus people from the community do not realise that these institutions are meant for the community. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) are notified minority communities in India. Khadse said that minority students would be prepared for competitive exams like MPSC and UPSC as well as streams like medical and engineering. He said that from academic year 2015-16, the state government would start a Marathi foundation course in Urdu medium schools from class VIII to class X. “There are about 5,000 Urdu medium schools in the state. The syllabus has been designed to provide them with skill development and modern education, besides their own language and culture,” he said. “Marathi subject was optional for students. Minority students need to learn the language of the state which is the norm in other states as well. Currently, students in BMC schools meant for South Indians learn Marathi language,” he said. Khadse said that at present, representation of the minority community in state and union public services is negligible. PTI