Commentary Papers

Dr Fathimath Fouziya. M Abstract Madrassa education system has attained worldwide attention of educationalists, sociologists and historians in recent times, especially after the Taliban’s resurgence and September 11 Twin Tower attack. It has originated as a tributary of the Arabian culture and has contributed significantly to the development of the Arabic language and literature. There is a constructed feeling and observation that madrassas are centres of ‘Jihad’ disregarding its contributions to the mainstream social life. As a result of this constructed ‘Islamophobia,’ the madrassa system in many nations is under close observation of the authorities. In fact, the prominent freedom fighters in India also grew up as part of the madrassa education system that has now been branded as the “centres of terrorism.” The development of any community depends on its educational system and it is proved that education is the key to human progress and social change. Education is a powerful tool for the empowerment of individuals. It helps in developing confidence in individuals and communities about their own capacities, inherent strengths to shape their lives and thus enhance their inner strength. Education is the means by which the societies in history have grown out of oppression to democratic participation and involvement. Madrassas are an integral component of the education system in India. Historically, the country’s Muslim population has been disproportionately disadvantaged in education. Even as they comprise nearly 14 percent of India’s population, their enrollment rate at the primary school level (Class 1-5) was a meager 9.39 percent of total enrollment in 2006.  More than 90 percent of madrassa students in India belongs to poor families. In some parts of the country, even poor non-Muslims send their children to these schools. Education holds the key to the empowerment of Indian Muslims. Education is one of the most powerful factors for the political, social, economic, or spiritual development of individuals and communities. It helps individuals to acquire confidence and capability to match the levels of the mainstream in society. Role of Madrassa in Educating the Society Madrassa education system in India aims at educating Muslim children living in this country. Madrassas were originally established to spread the messages of Islam and impart religious teaching to their followers. The scholars (ulemas), a group of religious specialists, used to perform the role of teachers in madrassa to spread Islam outside the Arabian Peninsula. A madrassa was treated as a high school or college earlier. In the Islamic era, there were thousands of madrassas which were as big as some universities today. They were full of exhibit museums, libraries, and visiting scholars. Great scholars and professors dedicated their lives to the madrassas for learning the philosophy of Islam, the Farsi language, and more significantly, to broaden the knowledge among the ordinary public. Rulers of the country as well as the public were educated in the madrassas in the past. And even today, madrassa education in India is playing a vital role in educating thousands of Muslim children. The importance of madrassas lies in its potential to make education available to the poorer section of society. Education in general and professional education in particular, is in great demand. The common people are aware of the advantages of modern education and even for an enlightened and inclusive democracy. All sections and classes of people should be well educated and intellectually equipped to shoulder the responsibility of a free nation. Education occupies a unique role in the process of empowerment of minorities, especially Muslims in the contemporary Indian context. As the Muslim community has lagged behind in education over the decades, it is necessary to foster and promote the education of this community at a quicker pace and as a matter of priority. Islam and Education Islam wants mankind to attain knowledge as much as they can. The first ayah of the Quran revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was “Read in the name of your Lord who created.” Islam commands us to pray to the Almighty to increase knowledge. We should learn from the words of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to seek knowledge even if it is found in a place as distant as China. During Prophet Muhammad (SAW), most of the Muslims were illiterate. After becoming believers, they began to acquire knowledge as much as they could. The Prophet (SAW) sent his followers to the Jewish physicians who were arch-enemies of Islam, and asked them to learn medical science from them. Knowledge should be considered as the lost property of a believer and should be reclaimed as their own from wherever it is found. Madrassas and makthabs are age-old institutions for imparting religious education among Muslims, based on Islamic theology and religious practices. Islamic education has different stages, from the beginner’s stage to the highest level, almost comparable to modern education in terms of levels of education. Almost every mosque has makthabs/madrassas where Muslim children are taught Quran and religious rituals and practices. As the children complete the early stages, there is scope for gaining higher knowledge and degrees in madrassas, based on Islamic theology and jurisprudence. The madrassa, thus, is a well-established institution of imparting Islamic education with strong roots in theology and religious practices. The madrassa education system was started in India after the arrival of Muslims in the 10th century. Makthabs and madrassas were initially established in the towns of Sind, Dabel, Mansura, and Multan. With the passage of time, it gradually spread across different parts of the country, such as Oudh, Multan, Lahore, Khairabad, Patna, Surat, Delhi, and Agra. The British period is generally considered as a period of setback to the traditional/indigenous education system in India. However, the madrassa education continued and survived as there was wide acceptance and support for the madrassa education system among the Muslims. There are different types of madrassas in India (1) Registered madrassas receiving government grants for salaries and infrastructure (2) Community-based madrassas. They are also of four types (a) Makthab – primary level (b) Dursul Qur’an – high school level (c) Madrassa Read More …

Dr. Jawed Alam Khan Democratic India’s Constitution makes it obligatory for legislators to scrutinise public expenditure and resource mobilisation. However, legislative scrutiny of the budget is generally found to be weak. As per the Constitution, all revenues and receipts go to a consolidated fund and money can be withdrawn only from the Consolidated Fund in accordance with the laws passed by the Parliament.Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and concerned citizens of the country have been engaged with monitoring of budgets for a long time. This responsibility entails an analysis of the budgets as the key instrument for demystifying priorities underlying public policies and priorities in budget allocations and effectiveness of implementation of development schemes. A major objective of engaging with budgets by CSOs has been assessing the impact of government development interventions on disadvantaged sections of the population. CSOs also believe that exercise of budget analysis and advocacy with governments significantly contribute towards increasing accountability and transparency in the governance system at various levels across the country.Budget is a statement of estimated expenditure and receipts during the ensuing financial year. Larger objectives of the government budgetary policy are to provide effective governance, improving social and physical infrastructure, promoting employment opportunities, increasing human resource development, reducing income equalities and finally to maintain fiscal balance through economic and price stability[1]. Preparation and presentation of the budget is an annual exercise at various levels of the governance system. The annual budget is prepared for optimal allocation of scarce financial resources taking into account the realities of socio-economic and the country’s political situation.Budget provides three types of services against annual government expenditure which includes general, economic and social sectors. General services are related to own maintenance, general services-line, general administration, defence, and pension and interest payment. Sub sectors like rural development, industry, commerce and trade, agriculture, banking and transport are part of Economic Services/Sector. Social Sector focuses on services provided by government related to health, education, and also covers the development needs of underprivileged sections like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, children, persons with disability and religious minorities.For development of minorities, there have been two policy strategies, namely the Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme (15 PP) for welfare of minorities and the Area Development Programme or Multi Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) since 2006 and 2008 respectively. MSDP was renamed Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) in 2018. With regard to activities, the 15-point programme for the welfare of minorities focuses on enhancing opportunities for education, an equitable share in economic activities and employment, improving living conditions, and prevention and control of communal riots. Except MSDP/PMJVK, all the schemes run by the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) are also part of 15 PP, and meant 100 percent for the development of the minorities.Inadequate Availability of Financial Resources Looking at the total budgetary allocation for minorities in the Union Budget, it may be noted that less than 0.2 percent of the total Union Budget 2021-22 has been earmarked for development of minorities. The ministries and department allocated fund for minorities include 15 PP (100 %), MSDP and 15 PP (15 %). The total expenditure reported for minorities by the central government through 15 PP and MSDP has shown declining trend in the total expenditure since 2012-13, although the religious minorities constitute 21 percent of total population as per census 2011.With regard to availability of resources for minorities, the Ministry of Finance has not allocated the same in accordance with the MoMA demand. For 2019-20 and 2020-21, only Rs 4,700 crore and Rs 5,029 crore were allocated as against the demand of Rs 5,795.26 crore and Rs 6,452 crore respectively. The reduction in the budget demanded by MoMA has affected the scholarship schemes. Further, there is a decline of 4.5 percent in this budget from the previous year’s budget. Also, the MoMA budget has been reduced from Rs 5,029 crore Budget Estimates (BE) to Rs 4,005 crore Revised Estimates (RE) in 2020-21.In the Union Budget for last many years, the finance minister has made no mention about the budgets for welfare of minorities, and no new scheme has been announced for their development. Ministry of Education scheme, known as Scheme for Madrasas and Minorities, has been shifted to MoMA with a reduced allocation of Rs 174 crore in 2021-22. The Ministry of Education has reported a figure of Rs 310.22 crore in the RE of 2020-21 for the scheme, which provides financial assistance to introduce modern subjects in Madrasas, trained teachers, and augment school infrastructure in minority institutions. Only Rs 70.94 crore of the Rs 120 crore allocated to the scheme was utilised in 2019-20, affecting the education of children in Madrasas due to non-payment of honorarium to teachers.Issues in Programmme Design of 15PP15 PP has certain features of Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) of allocation in terms of fund flow towards religious minorities. The resource allocation made through 15 PP for minorities is a mere accounting exercise to book the expenditure under the general schemes for minorities by select ministries and departments. In terms of allocating the fund (15 percent wherever it is possible) under the 15 PP, the proportional share of minorities in total population was not taken into account which is 21 percent as per the census-2011. In this respect, instead of the current provision of 15 percent of fund allocation under 15 PP, the resource allocation should be made as per the need of minority community.The data on fund utilisation and achievements of target has to be prepared on general sector programme of 15PP so that it should influence the allocation process in the ensuing financial year. Further, there is an inadequate target for general schemes focusing on minorities through 15 PP by different departments and ministries. The ministries like IT, industry, trade and commerce have been kept out from the preview of 15 PP.The design of 15 PP is not appropriate in terms of comprehensive coverage of minority population and addressing their development needs until and Read More …