Uttarakhand orders 206 madrasas to observe Sunday holiday instead of Friday prayers

The BJP government in Uttarakhand has changed the weekly holiday in 206 madrasas in the state to Sunday from Friday, when Muslims hold congregational prayers.

Out of the 206 madrasas, 76 have been recognised and certified by the Pushkar Singh Dhami-led government after an extensive survey. The process to certify the remaining 130 is underway.

The government has also demolished dozens of madrasas and closed over 200 of them for allegedly failing to explain their funding sources or conform to standard government educational regulations.

Under the Uttarakhand Minority Education Act, 2025, only unaided minority centres that follow the rules set for government schools will be allowed to operate. These include registering the land on which the institutes stand, maintaining a certain teacher-student ratio, providing basic facilities for students, and clearly identifying the source of funds.

Surjit Singh, chairman of the Uttarakhand minority education authority, told reporters on Wednesday that he had issued the holiday-change order to bring madrasas into the mainstream of the education system.

“We noticed that even after receiving recognition from the education department as schools, some madrasas were observing weekly holidays on Fridays. We have written to the education directorate to stop this system and ensure that they follow the norm of a weekly holiday on Sundays,” he said.

Kunwar Singh Rawat, director of elementary education, said: “The madrasas have got the status of schools and so they have to follow what other schools do.”