The Allahabad High Court recently granted the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) permission to intervene in a case dealing with whether religious education can be provided in government-funded Madrasas. The High Court sought responses on the issue from the Central and State governments in March 2023. It was hearing a petition from Azaj Ahamad, a teacher at a Madrasa in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, seeking relief from a salary issue. A single judge Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh appointed Advocate SM Singh Raikwar as amicus curiae to assist the Court in the matter and stated, “The matter is of wide ramification and some importance and outcome of this case will affect the education system as well as the rights of the children studying in Madrasas.” In its intervention petition, the NCPCR stated that the education provided to children in Madrasas is insufficient and incomplete.
