Overview
- State authorities issued closure notices to 252 unaided, unrecognised madrasas and show-cause notices to roughly 100 others in the first enforcement phase announced on Sunday.
- Officials say the action follows a statewide mapping and re-verification that found many institutions lacked formal affiliation, usable buildings, minimum student strength and sufficient teachers.
- Closures are concentrated in border and northern districts, with Malda (about 44–45), North Dinajpur (about 37), South 24 Parganas (about 32) and roughly 25 each in Murshidabad and Nadia among the highest counts.
- The government says recognised madrasas will keep operating and affected institutions may reply to notices before further legal steps; the exercise was launched under the chief minister’s ‘One State, One Education’ push.
- The survey counted about 2,132 approved madrasas and about 2,396 operating without registration, a gap that officials link to regulatory, security and curriculum concerns and that is likely to produce administrative appeals and political contention.