Madrassa funding row: Now, DSEK says funds ‘surrendered’

By MUDASIR AHMED

Published: Wed, 12 December 2012 10:23 PM

SRINAGAR: The Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK), which is under fire over alleged embezzlement of the funds it had received as New Delhi’s assistance for Valley madrassas, now says that a major chunk of those funds has been “surrendered.”
“The un-operated funds of 361.5176 lakhs rupees out of the total allotment of 553.45 lakhs was surrendered ‘as a routine’ at the end of the financial year 2011-12 and the remaining amount of 91.613 lakhs has been remitted by Chief Education officers to government treasuries,” DSEK says in an RTI application filed by Mudasir Naqashbandi and Firdous Ahmed Parray.

The lawyer duo had sought details about lapsed amount and utilisation of the funds by DSEK, the nodal agency for funds distribution, after DSEK reply to a previous RTI in April this year contradicted the total figure provided by the government on the floor of the House.
In the first RTI reply in March, the DSEK had said that it received “only 373.77 lakhs in central assistance for madrassas”. Following the April RTI, DSEK said that it received 553.45 lakhs out of which 100.3194 were disbursed by CEOs to various madrassas.
But, government in a written reply to MLA Langate Er Rashid’s query in the House disclosed that it received Rs seven crores in central assistance for the madrassas in the Valley, out of which only 100.1394 lakh were disbursed.
“The information they have given now on the quantum amount is still ambiguous despite the request for a clarified reply about the declaration of the lapsed amount,” Mudasir Naqashbandi told Kashmir Reader. “Although DSEK has maintained that it received 553.45 lakhs from government of India, the latest RTI raises more questions than it answers.”
In the RTI reply in March, Naqashbandi says, DSEK claims to have disbursed the amount after March 31. “However, in the new RTI application they have said that funds get automatically lapsed after March 31. But in the previous RTI, DSEK said that it disbursed funds to madrassas in Budgam in the month of April this year.  So did they disburse the amount in April in Budgam if the amount got lapsed in March?”
Also, Naqashbandi says, list of all the madrassas who have received the aid “is with us, and they are not 372, as shown in the new RTI by DSEK, but only a handful.”
“I believe the information they have provided is totally misleading and incomplete. We are mulling to take necessary course of action in order to get to the facts,” Naqashbandi added

MADRASSA FUNDING ROW: NOW, DSEK SAYS FUNDS ‘SURRENDERED’

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Madrassa funding row: DSEK gets RTI over contradictory figures

Published: Tue, 23 October 2012 10:24 PM

The Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK), which is under fire ever since the row over alleged embezzlement of madrassa funds erupted earlier this year, is now facing another RTI application seeking whereabouts of lapsed amount from the central assistance it received for various NGOs and madrassas.
The RTI application (OSD/MW 10583), shot by two lawyers, Mudasir Naqashbandi and Firdous Parray, has sought declaration of lapsed amount and details of utilisation of the funds by DSEK, if the amount has not been returned to HRD ministry.
“I am surprised to see how they are handling the issue and why the Education Minister and DSEK Director Mohammed Shafi Rather are silent, because DSEK is giving different details every time,” Naqashbandi told Kashmir Reader.
Regarding the amount received by DSEK (which was revealed in first RTI filed by the two lawyers in March), Naqashbandi said, “DSEK disclosed that they received an amount of Rs 373.77 lakh which was an unsatisfactory and incomplete reply. I filed first appeal in April and they then revealed the amount received was Rs 553.45 lakhs out of which they have disbursed only Rs 100.3194 lakhs.”
The government, however, disclosed in a written reply to MLA Langate Er Rashid in the state Assembly recently that it received Rs seven crores in central assistance for NGOs and madrassas in the Valley, out of which only 100.1394 lakh were disbursed.
“Now we are also going to file another RTI asking the DSEK to put out a clarification because DSEK says it received Rs five crores, disbursed 100.3194 lakhs and 453.128 lakhs were lapsed.”
“Is DSEK telling the truth or the government, we want to know. They should clarify what has happened to the said amount of poor and orphan children of the Valley,” Naqashbandi said. “We have also written to Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal regarding this issue and if needed we will meet him personally if DSEK doesn’t clarify by that time.”

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Rising Kashmir News

Baramulla, June 30: Muslim Students’ Organization (MSO) Saturday strongly condemned the harassment of Kashmiri students in private engineering college in Haryana.

In a statement issued here, MSO General Secretary Mudasir Naqshbandi said beating and detaining of Kashmiri students in outside states reveals that they (Kashmiris) are unnecessarily made targets.
“JK government should immediately take up the issue with the States where Kashmiri students are harassed,” the statement said

Who siphoned off Rs 453.128 lakhs madrassa fund?

Who siphoned off Rs 453.128 lakhs madrassa fund?

New documents show GoI’s financial aid goes unaccounted

By MUDASIR AHMED

Published: Tue, 03 July 2012 11:35 PM

SRINAGAR: The row over alleged embezzlement of funds provided by New Delhi as financial aid to various madrassas in the Valley has taken another twist as new documents have come to fore showing that the amount of money received by the nodal agency for aid distribution—the Directorate of School Education Department (DSEK)—stands at Rs 553.45 lakhs against an earlier disclosed amount of Rs 373 lakhs. Also, only Rs 100.3194 lakhs have been disbursed by the CEOs to 58 madrassas, leaving a massive balance of Rs 453.128 lakhs unaccounted.
In the previous RTI reply, it was said that only Rs 68.28 lakh were released by the DSEK in favor of 30 madrassas in Budgam district and 14 in Kulgam. In Budgam district alone, it was shown that the 30 madrassas received Rs 40.28 lakhs.
The new documents have come to fore in response to an appeal against the previous RTI reply filed by High Court advocates Mudasir Naqashbandi and Firdous Parray.
“I smelled rat in the earlier RTI reply, so I filed an appeal to the first appellate authority under section 15 of J&K RTI ACT 2009 claiming that the information provided was misleading and incomplete. The reply has now come and the information is disturbing and huge funds have been embezzled,” Mudasir told Kashmir Reader.
As per new documents, Rs 70.37 lakh were released by DSEK in favor of 30 madrassas in Budgam district and 14 in Kulgam. In Budgam, the 30 madrassas have received Rs 42.62 lakhs against the amount of Rs 40.28 lakhs given in the previous RTI.
“The list of madrassas in Budgam has been also been faked,” a top DSEK official told Kashmir Reader.
He said the bank account numbers provided against 30 madrassas in Budgam either don’t exist or are registered with personal names.
“Some committees after coming under pressure of the DSEK officers allegedly submitted fabricated reports. Some of the reports of the district committees were also changed by these officers to suit their malicious designs and to cover up real culprits behind the madrassa episode,” the official said, adding, that the district enquiry committee report submitted to Inspection Monitoring Wing had also indicated that the lists of fake madrassas were fraudulently prepared.
“Yes...some of the madrassas were illegally operating outside the ambit of proper registering mechanism; they are fake and stand disqualified,” head of DESK’s OSD monitoring wing, GA Bhat told Kashmir Reader.
Chief Education Officers (CEOs) have also clearly stated that no madrassa or NGO in rest of the districts of the Valley received any financial aid from the department.
The amount meant for the madrassas in five districts of Shopian, Ganderbal, Pulwama, Bandipore and Baramulla also seems to be embezzled as there is no mention of its utilization, neither in the previous RTI nor in the new appeal reply.
“I am surprised and shocked. How can anyone grab Rs 4 crore of orphans and poor children of Kashmir? People have the right to know where is this massive sum? Did it vanish into thin air?” Mudasir said, adding “very soon we are going to approach the State Accountability Commission against those CEOs who are involved in this embezzlement and misappropriation of madrasa fund, and we have faith in SAC that those who are involved in this will be punished.”
When contacted by Kashmir Reader, DSEK director Mohammed Shafi Rather said, “I have joined recently and I have no knowledge about this issue.”

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Madrassa Funding row

Srinagar: State’s School Education Department has faced a query over alleged financial discrepancies and fraudulent beneficiaries in Madrassa funding in Jammu and Kashmir by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) after an application under Right to Information (RTI) Act was filed in office of the public information officer Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) on Monday.

Advocate  Mudasir Naqshbandi  and Advocate Firdous Ahmed Paray of Jammu and Kashmir High Court have filed an RTI application before  Public Information Officer in the DSEK to get details about the amount of money received by DSEK  from the Government of India for Madrassas of Kashmir region form last five years.

“We have also sought list of Madrassas which have received the money from the central government and also the details of organizations if any which have received the money,” Advocate, Mudasir Naqshbandi while talking to  Kashmir Images, said.

 “We have also sought details of the account numbers of these Madrassas and Organizations which have received the money,” added Naqshbandi.

The application has come at a time when the State is caught in a quagmire of corruption. Madrassa funding in Jammu and Kashmir by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has put the Department of School Education in the dock as most of the Madrassas incorporated in the list forwarded to the HRD Ministry have out-rightly denying having received any funding, while some institutions issued statements in local press denying any funding from central government.

In response to an RTI application, HRD Ministry had revealed that it had disbursed over Rs 5 crore to the Education department as financial assistance for 372 Madrassas during 2010 and allocated another over Rs 7 crore during 2011. However, Education department later ordered release of only Rs 3.47 crore for only 362 Madrassas.

 However,  the government through an Order (No 756-Edu of 2011), has done away with the condition that institutions seeking financial benefits under centrally sponsored scheme for providing quality education in Madrassas (SPQEM) shall be recognized and affiliated with the designated competent authority and also fulfill the conditions laid down under SRO 123 of 2010.

Though the Madrassas were not complying with the guidelines making them ineligible for assistance, the Education Department had forwarded their list to MHRD and received funding under their name which is yet to be released.

While the registration/affiliation clause was laid down in a preceding order (No 692-Edu of 2011) issued on December 9,2010, government came up with the corrigendum, soon after detail about the funding row were reported, violation of rules by the education department and discrepancies in the list of Madrassas forwarded to MHRD for funding surfaced.

Interestingly, the Education Department’s role had come under scanner after MHRD disclosed last December that it had allocated Rs 5.39 crore to state  in  2010) under centrally sponsored scheme for providing quality education in Madrassas (SPQEM). Besides, in response to an RTI application, MHRD had revealed that other Rs 7 crore were allotted to JK for 372 Madrassas this year.

However, after Union Ministry released the list of 372 Madrassas which was forwarded to it by the state government, a conglomerate of more than 30 religious organizations- Muttahida Ulema Ahli Sunnat - operating dozens of schools in the Valley, had categorically refused having applied for or received any kind of funding under SPQEM. They had accused the education department of “fraud and embezzling” funds using their name.

Under fire Education Department headed by former minister Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed had ordered release of more than Rs 3 crore to 362 institutes while it had received funding for 372 Madrassas.

The controversy took a new twist when it came to fore that the Madrassas were not eligible for financial assistance as they were neither registered under Central or State Government Acts or Madrassa Boards or with the Wakf Boards or National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).

However, the condition was done away with, silently. Interestingly one of the mandates of the District Level Verification Committees which were set up for verification of the Madrassas was to ascertain that the institutions are recognized and affiliated with the designated competent authority and also fulfill all the nine conditions laid down in the government order No 692-Edu of 2011.

Even three months after the funding row erupted there is no response from the education department about variation in the figures of funds received by JK (MHRD says it has released Rs 5.38 crore and Rs 7 crore while state government said it has released only Rs 3.47 crore) under the scheme, the disputed list of Madrassas and now the violation of set rules.

“The Directorate of School Education, Kashmir, has received verification of 140 Madrassas. But we are inquiring into all details before taking a final call on releasing funds to them,” sources said.

The Madrassas “verified” included 33 in Baramulla, 30 in Budgam, 27 in Srinagar, 14 in Kulgam, 7 each in Kupwara and Ganderbal, 6 in Pulwama, 5 in Shopian and 2 in Budgam.

Officials said of 362 Madrassas, 197 are in Kashmir valley and rest in Jammu.

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