Thousands of teachers and hundreds of madrasas may suffer as the state pushes its own control over minority education
NEW DELHI — The Uttar Pradesh government has once again turned its attention towards madrasas, raising deep concern among Muslims who see the latest step as a clear attempt to take over their institutions. After already shutting down or locking many unregistered madrasas and demolishing buildings using bulldozers, the state has now moved towards controlling the way teachers are appointed in government-funded madrasas.
Minority Welfare Minister OP Rajbhar, speaking in Bahraich on 7 December, announced that teacher recruitment in government madrasas will now be through a state commission. Until now, these appointments were handled by madrasa management committees, which operated under rules meant to protect the rights of minority-run institutions.
Rajbhar said the system will now be similar to teacher selection in regular government schools.
Two days later, on 9 December, the Director of Minority Welfare and Registrar of the Madrasa Board sent an order to all district minority officers, demanding full details of madrasa teachers within three days. The order also referred to an audit meeting in Vidhan Sabha on 29 May 2025, where the government had claimed that “large-scale irregularities” had taken place in teacher appointments in madrasas and that some management committees had hired their own relatives.
The order further required all madrasa committees to submit an affidavit confirming that their past appointments were done under the Madrasa Regulations 2016 and that no close relative of any committee member had been hired.
The Muslim community and madrasa operators believe these sudden actions are not simple administrative steps. Instead, they fear the government is preparing grounds to either stop grants, cancel recognition, or push its own people into the system. Many say the government wants to weaken the independence of madrasas so that they can no longer run according to the community’s needs.
A senior madrasa operator in Lucknow said privately, “The government is looking for new excuses every few months. First, they shut down unregistered madrasas, then they used bulldozers, and now they want to control teacher appointments. This is not reform. This is pressure.”
If the new plan goes ahead, the future of 560 government-funded madrasas and nearly 8,400 teachers will come under threat, raising worries about thousands of students who study there.
Right now, teacher recruitment in government madrasas follows a clear system:
• A five-member committee recommends names
• The District Minority Welfare Officer makes the appointments
• The Madrasa Board gives final approval
The five-member committee includes the president, secretary, principal, and two external members. Under the Madrasa Regulations 2016, no teacher can be appointed if he or she is a close relative of any committee member. Madrasa bodies say they follow these rules strictly.
Earlier, many madrasas offered Kamil (BA) and Fazil (MA) courses, but the Supreme Court banned this on 1 June 2025, saying that schools cannot provide graduation or post-graduation degrees. This decision affected nearly 34,000 students. The court asked the state to link these courses with universities.
Minister of State for Minority Affairs Danish Ansari had said that government employees who had used such degrees would not lose their jobs.
Yaqub Qureshi, a madrasa operator in Lucknow, said that madrasa jobs come with fair salaries and do not require teacher training degrees. He added, “In government madrasas, a good pay scale is given after getting a job. But the process of getting a job is not as difficult as becoming a school teacher.”
On government’s claim of nepotism, Mohammad Sagir Alam, Vice President of the All India Madrasa Teachers Association, rejected said, “All appointments in government madrasas in Uttar Pradesh are made according to the Madrasa Appointment Regulations 2016. It is clearly written that the candidate cannot be a close relative of any committee member. All madrasas follow this rule. If someone has violated this rule somewhere, it could be an exception, and where are there no exceptions? Don’t irregularities happen in schools and colleges? So, will the whole system be called corrupt because of that?”
From Agra, madrasa operator Haji Jameel went further, calling the government’s plan a direct attack on minority rights. He said, “If the government does this, it will be a complete violation of Muslims’ constitutional rights. Articles 28 to 30 clearly say that the minority community can operate and manage its own educational institutions. If the government itself decides the syllabus and appoints teachers, then what is the meaning of opening and running a madrasa?”
He added that madrasas provide education that requires special training in religious subjects, and government interference will damage their independence.
However, not everyone is against the idea. Ejaz Ahmad, Principal of Madrasa Nizamia Qadriya in Prayagraj, said that any system can work if rules are clear. He explained, “It does not matter whether appointments are through commission or on the madrasa committee’s recommendation. If the government makes rules that recruitments will be through a commission, people will prepare. Teachers can take B.Ed or BT and get jobs. Appointments happen according to whatever system exists.”
Muslim groups say this latest move is not about improving education but about taking away freedom from a community that already feels targeted. They point to the bulldozing of madrasa buildings, the closure of institutions, and now the attempt to take over teacher recruitment.
A senior member of a madrasa federation said, “The state wants to run madrasas like government schools. But madrasas are not government schools. They belong to Muslims. The Constitution gives us this right. If the government starts choosing teachers, the identity of madrasas will be lost.”
With the government demanding affidavits, checking old appointments, and preparing to change the recruitment system, madrasa leaders say the coming months will be critical. If the new rules are imposed, thousands of teachers may lose the simple pathway they once had to work in these institutions.
The Muslim community warns that the government’s plan threatens the very purpose of madrasa education and may leave hundreds of years of tradition in danger.
