Madarsa board exams: Fate of Nepali students hangs in balance

Over 1,000 Nepali students enrolled in madarsas across the state may not be to take exams of Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Education Board due to lack of Aadhaar cards, a mandatory pre-requisite for the test, claimed a madarsa teachers’ body.

The issue has been hanging fire now for close to a month as the state government is yet to take a call on whether to allow or deny permission to these Nepali students. With just four days remaining to the February 10 deadline to fill up the examination forms, the Madarise Arbia Teachers’ Association (MATA) has shot off an SOS to the Madarsa Shiksha Board.

“Forms of madarsa examinations are being filled. If the mandatory provision of providing Aadhaar number is not withdrawn, then nearly 1,000 students hailing from Nepal will not be able to take the exam for munshi, maulvi, aalim, kaamil and faazil,” said general secretary, Madarise Arbia Teachers’ Association, Diwan Sahab Jaman Khan.

Nepalese citizens get birth and citizenship certificates, and based on one of these documents, they are given admissions to madarsas in India, he said. “The last date to fill the examination form is February 10, and without furnishing Aadhaar details, the examination forms will not be accepted, said Khan.

UPMEB registrar Rahul Gupta said only the state government could take a call on the fate of these students and that the Board had apprised it about the situation. But deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma told PTI, “We are yet to get any such case. If any such case comes to us, then we will think over it and arrive at a decision as per the provisions of the law.”

Gupta said the government has been apprised about the matter and he was awaiting directives. This is exactly what minister for minority welfare Chaudhary Laxmi Narain had said when he was asked the same question last month. Narain had said that the state government would take a lenient view and allow them to appear for if they approached it.

Consequently, the state government had extended the January 20 deadline to February 10 to enable students to fill up the forms.

Inputs from PTI