Arjun Singh for Central Madrassa Board

New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) The human resource development (HRD) ministry plans to set up a Central Madrassa Board on the lines of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), HRD Minister Arjun Singh said Tuesday.

This would help modernise the education imparted in the Islamic seminaries across the country, the minister said.

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'There has been a long pending demand to set up Central Madrassa Board on lines of the CBSE. We are considering it. A bill in this regard will be introduced in the next session of parliament,' he said.

Arjun Singh told the annual conference of State Minorities Commissions: 'Madrassa education has received special attention in (my) ministry. Recently I approved recommendations regarding equivalence of madrassa qualification to the CBSE certificates.'

This was a key recommendation of the Sachar Committee and a part of the prime minister's 15-point programme for minorities. The measure is expected to benefit some 7,000 madrassas and 350,000 students in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Assam and West Bengal.

'Giving recognition to madrassa certificates will make madrassa students eligible for government jobs,' added Arjun Singh.

Speaking at the same venue, Vice President Hamid Ansari advocated giving constitutional status to the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) so as to equip it with powers to investigate all issues related to minority communities and make its decisions binding on the authorities.

'The government could consider equipping the NCM with the instrumentality of investigation of the type given to the National Human Rights Commission and Commission on Scheduled Castes,' Ansari said.

The conference was attended by members of State Minorities Commission and deliberated upon various issues related to socio-economic development of minorities.