The Punjab Auqaf Department has prepared a new 17-column form to collect information about madrassas in the provincial metropolis. The Auqaf Department, deviating from guidelines given by the federal government to facilitate the registration of madrassas across the country, has proposed the chief minister start a separate process for reconciliation of data on madrassas, sources told Daily Times.A summary has been sent to the chief minister for approval of the project and the new form. The summary was prepared in consultation with the Punjab Industries Department, with the objective to remove confusion about the ongoing system to collect data on madrassas, officials told Daily Times.
An official concerned said the 17-column form asks the name, sect, number of male and female students, number of teachers, registration number, locals and boarders, the name of the person in charge, and other confidential information about madrassas. The summary also makes proposals to improve the process of reconciliation of the data on madrassas.
The official defended the new proposal, saying the data collection process, started two years ago, was still mired in confusion. “We want to streamline this process at the provincial level,” he said. “It is generally believed in government circles that the data figures mismatch at various tiers like the federal, provincial and local levels. This confusion is due to lack of coordination between the central and provincial tiers of government.”
This confusion was highlighted recently when the Punjab Industries Department sent data to the Federal Ministry for Religious Affairs in July 2007 listing the number of registered madrassas in Punjab at 4,798. This figure is 1,132 short of the number stated in the ministryÂ’s quarterly report prepared in June 2007. The secretary for the Punjab Industries Department had also sent a letter in June to all district coordination officers (DCOs) in the province asking them to register all madrassas according to a then new 12-column form.