'No religious teaching with public fund': madrassas to shut in Assam

The Assam government will close down all state-run madrasas as it can't afford to teach religious scriptures with public funds, state Education and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday. The state government will bring out a notification in November to this effect, he added. The notification will also detail the future of Sanskrit tols or ashrams in the state. Assam spends about Rs 3-4 crore on 614 government-aided recognised madrasas and about Rs 1 crore on Sanskrit tols in the state annually. Following the government's announcement, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal said that if the BJP-led government shut down the madrasas, his party would re-open them after coming to power in the 2021 assembly polls.