Give funds for madrasas only if students sing national anthem: Shiv Sena tells govt

Mumbai: Shiv Sena, which has been critical of Maharashtra government’s decision to fund modernisation of madrasas, today sought imposition of certain conditions for these Islamic seminaries benefiting from the government funds. “The students in these madrasas should be asked to sing national anthem, there should be big maps of Maharashtra and India displayed there. “The teachers at these madrasas should give an undertaking that India’s Constitution and history of the country’s freedom struggle will be taught there,” Sena leader Diwakar Raote said, in a letter to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. [caption id=“attachment_1102157” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image of the Shiv Sena. PTI[/caption] Raote demanded that displaying photos of the President PM, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Maulana Azad be made mandatory in these madrasas. The decision to modernise madrasas was taken during a state cabinet meeting last week wherein it was decided that for the year 2013-14, the government will give Rs 10 crore to 200 madrasas all across the state. This money will be spent for the construction of school buildings, modern toilets within the madrasa premises and availability of potable drinking water. The government has stipulated that concerned madrasas should be registered with the Charity Commissioner and should have completed at least three years of functioning. In Maharashtra, there are a total of 1,889 madrasas all across the state, in which 1,45,995 students are enrolled. PTI