Preliminary reports on the state of madrasahs across 12 districts in West Bengal have been submitted to the State Secretariat Nabanna, an official from the State Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department confirmed on Wednesday, 29 July. The exercise is part of a state-wide drive to identify illegally-run and Khariji (unaffiliated) madrasahs operating across the state.

Districts Covered and Border Sensitivity

The 12 districts from which preliminary reports have been received are Cooch Behar, North Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Nadia, Hooghly, and Howrah. Of these, seven districts — Cooch Behar, North Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, and Nadia — share international borders with Bangladesh. According to the department official, the maximum number of Khariji madrasahs have been reported from these seven border districts.

Funding Sources Under Scrutiny

A consistent thread across the district magistrates' preliminary reports is the call for a thorough probe into the sources of funding for unaffiliated madrasahs. According to the department official, the reports note that beyond small local donations, the primary funding for these institutions comes from institutional donations — including overseas contributions. District magistrates have explicitly flagged the need to investigate such institutional and foreign funding channels.

It is also learnt that the majority of Khariji madrasahs restrict their curriculum exclusively to Islamic religious education, with no integration of the mainstream academic syllabus.

How the Audit Was Initiated

The audit process began in the first week of June, when the State Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department issued a notification directing district magistrates (DMs) across all districts to submit comprehensive madrasah reports to Nabanna by 5 July. Following the initial submission, DMs of these 12 districts were directed to conduct a second round of investigation and submit further preliminary reports — a process that has now been completed.

What Happens Next

The department will now compile the findings from all 22 districts and prepare a consolidated final report to be submitted to the office of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. The combined report is expected to form the basis for any regulatory or enforcement action against madrasahs found to be operating outside the state's recognised framework. This is the second round of preliminary reports from the 12 districts, signalling an intensifying scrutiny of unaffiliated religious educational institutions in the state.