The Uttarakhand government has stepped up action against madrasas that do not have the required recognition or fail to meet the prescribed educational rules. Five more institutions in Dehradun and Haldwani have now been sealed or stopped from functioning. The government said the action is aimed at ensuring that educational institutions follow recognition requirements and meet the required education standards.
Uttarakhand: Action has been taken against unrecognised madrasas in Dehradun and Haldwani. Three madrasas in Dehradun and two in Haldwani were sealed, taking the total number of unrecognised madrasas sealed across the state to 17, while operations at three others have also been… pic.twitter.com/pbVaEQhdAG
— ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2026
The latest action takes the total number of madrasas shut down in the state to 20. Of these, 17 have been sealed, while the management of three others has given written confirmation that they have stopped their operations. The government has maintained that the exercise is about bringing institutions under the required regulatory framework and ensuring that students receive education as per prescribed standards.
Action in Dehradun
In Dehradun, authorities took action against three institutions. Madrasa Jamia-tus-Salam Al-Islamia in Azad Colony was sealed.
Meanwhile, the managements of Madrasa Dar-e-Arqam in Azad Colony, Majra, and Madrasa Darul Uloom Rahimia submitted written undertakings stating that they had stopped running the institutions.
Minority Affairs Secretary Dr Parag Madhukar Dhakate said the action against madrasas that do not meet the prescribed recognition requirements and educational standards is continuing.
Two institutions sealed in Haldwani
In Haldwani, two more madrasas were sealed after their management failed to provide the required recognition documents.
The institutions include Madrasa Jamia Nooria Barkate Amina on Shani Bazaar Road in Gauja Jali North and an unrecognised madrasa in Indira Nagar, Banbhoolpura. Haldwani City Magistrate A B Vajpayee confirmed the action.
New system for minority education
The latest action comes nearly two months after Uttarakhand abolished its statutory Madrasa Board and introduced a new system for regulating minority educational institutions.
In July, Uttarakhand became the first state in India to abolish its statutory Madrasa Board. It replaced the board with the Uttarakhand State Authority for Minority Education (USAME), which will regulate institutions run by all six notified minority communities: Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists.
The new framework replaced the Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board Act, 2016, and the Uttarakhand Non-Government Arabic and Persian Madrasa Recognition Rules, 2019. These were replaced by the Minority Education Act, 2025, and the Uttarakhand Minority Educational Institutions Recognition Rules, 2026.
Before the overhaul, 452 madrasas were registered with and recognised by the Madrasa Board. The government had also earlier sealed more than 200 madrasas that had not applied for recognition.
Supreme Court view on minority institutions
The issue of regulating minority educational institutions was also examined by the Supreme Court in 2024. The court overturned an Allahabad High Court ruling and upheld the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004. However, that judgment dealt with Uttar Pradesh’s law and does not directly decide the validity of Uttarakhand’s new framework.
The Supreme Court said the state can set education standards for recognised madrasas while protecting the rights of religious and linguistic minorities under Article 30 of the Constitution. It also held that minority institutions have the right to provide both religious and secular education, but their right to administer such institutions is not absolute.
The court said regulations can be imposed to maintain education standards and that the state has to balance educational quality with the constitutional rights of minorities.
