Uttar Pradesh madrassas under Yogi Adityanath govt's scanner, to be geo-tagged through GPS

Just days after the Yogi Adityanath government launched a portal for the Uttar Pradesh madrassas, the state government has announced geo-tagging for the madrassas. According to a report in The Times of India, all madrassas across the state will be geo-tagged through a GPS-based service in an attempt to weed out fake students and staff. [caption id=“attachment_170480” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The report states that the order issued on 31 July by the Adityanath government also asked the madrassas to share maps of classrooms, photographs of the building and teachers’ banking details. The institutes have also been told to upload each employee’s Aadhaar details to the newly launched portal. The government made it mandatory for the madrassas to be registered on the portal, India Today reported. Under this new system, 10,000 more accredited madrassas have to provide their information, including photographs of employees. At present, around 8,000 madrasas in Uttar Pradesh are recognised by the government body Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Shiksha Parishad. Among these, 560 are fully aided by the state. The madrassas also have to keep records of all functions conducted in their institutions. Ahead of the Independence Day, the state government had  directed the madrassas to hold celebrations and videograph the event. Madrassas have repeatedly questioned the move. “If it is only in madrassas, does it mean that our patriotism is being suspected?” asked All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahli. According to The Times of India report, ‘development’ has been listed as one of the main reasons behind the move to launch the portal. “The launch of the portal and other services is to ensure development, competency-mapping, simplification of process and improvement in education quality of madrassas,” the order said.