Start a national modernization program for madrasas

No new program has been started by the BJP government for modernisation of madrasas. Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrasas (SPQEM) has been running since 2008-2009. The scheme is a demand driven scheme and expenditure depend on proposals from the state governments. Spending for SPQEM in 2015-16 increased to Rs 294 crore from Rs 108 crore in 2014-15. However, the funding for the program was slashed from 182 crore to 108 crore. The number of madrasas covered under the scheme has gone up from 15,000 in 2013-14 to 21,000 in 2015-16.

However, with around 70,000 madrasas in the country, only 30% are being covered under SPQEM. No information could be found about the spending and number of madrasas covered from 2016-17.

In the light of the fact that no new program has been initiated by BJP government or revamped the previous one that now covers only 30% Madrasas, the performance of the government is classified as “Inadequate Progress”