Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said closing madrassas was not a solution and pitched for providing modern education not only in Islamic institutions but also in Sanskrit schools to face competition

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said closing madrassas was not a solution and pitched for providing modern education not only in Islamic institutions but also in Sanskrit schools to face competition. Adityanath said the country was not able to utilise energy of those "misguided" in 'rashtra nirman' (nation building) and stressed that quality education was the solution.

"We can think about modernisation of madrassas. Closing them down is not a solution but timely improvements should be considered. I also ask Sanskrit schools that besides imparting traditional education they should give computer, English, Science and Mathematics education to face competition," he said.

He was addressing a coordination meeting of minority welfare ministers of nine states including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakahand, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Delhi and Punjab here in presence of Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chief Wasim Rizvi had recently written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief minister demanding that the madrassas be shut down.

"How many madrassas have produced engineers, doctors, IAS officers? Yes, but some madrassas have produced terrorists," Rizvi had said in his letter last week, prompting the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind to serve a legal notice on him.

Shia and Sunni clerics have unitedly filed an FIR against Rizvi, who also received a phone call from a man, claiming to be an aide of fugitive mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, threatening to blow up him and his family. The chief minister said, "We are not able to utilise energy of those who are misguided in 'Rashtra Nirman'. Only quality education is the solution. Our government is committed to development without any discrimination."

Noting that after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, transparency has been ensured in government schemes, Adityanath said, "We should try to make such a society where no one feels neglected."

The chief minister was of the view that rather than providing loans to SC/ST women, efforts should be made to identify their skills and nurture their talents.