The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttarakhand on Sunday cleared a bill that will repeal the Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board Act, 2016, and extend minority status to educational institutions run by the Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Parsi communities, reported PTI.

The Uttarakhand Minority Educational Institutions Bill, 2025, was cleared during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. It will be introduced in the Assembly session starting Tuesday.

If cleared, the legislation will repeal the Uttarakhand Non-Government Arabic and Persian Madrasa Recognition Rules, 2019, which empower the madrasa board to set syllabus, conduct exams, inspect madrasas and grant recognition to them, The Indian Express reported.

In many parts of the Islamic world, a madrasa is an institution that imparts education – secular, or religious. In the Indian subcontinent, however, the word “madrasa” has evolved to refer solely to Islamic seminaries.

The bill also seeks to bring all minority-run institutions under a single regulatory authority, according to the Deccan Herald.

Approval from the authority will be mandatory for an educational institution to qualify as being minority-run. The authority will also be empowered to decide the curriculum and ensure that education is aligned with standards set by the Board of School Education.

Uttarakhand has 452 officially recognised madrasas, The Indian Express reported.

In March, the newspaper reported that the Uttarakhand government had sealed...

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