Higher edu students of madrassas face uncertain future after SC order; demands to accommodate them
Lucknow (PTI): After the Supreme Court declared higher education degrees awarded by the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Board unconstitutional, there is a demand to accommodate the about 25,000 students who are currently pursing these courses in any other recognised university.
The state government has also said it will find a way out after considering all the legal aspects of this matter.
In an order on November 5, the Supreme Court declared the Kamil and Fazil degrees -- equivalent to graduation and post-graduation degrees -- awarded by the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Board Board unconstitutional, saying it was in conflict with the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act.
Zaman Khan, the General Secretary of the Teachers Association Madaris Arabia Uttar Pradesh, said the court's decision has created a difficult situation for the thousands of current students as the board will not be able to conduct exams for these courses now.
"The order of the Supreme Court is supreme. But the government must find some way to deal with the situation that has arisen so that the future of the students studying in the Kamil and Fazil courses of the Madrasa Board does not remain dark," he told PTI said on Sunday.
Minority Welfare Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said the government will definitely find a way out by studying the SC order and discussing its various legal aspects.
On the question of whether the students studying in the Madrasa Board's Kamil and Fazil courses will be linked to any other university, the minister said, "All aspects will be considered and only after that the government will take any decision."
Madrasa Board Registrar R P Singh said about 25,000 students are studying in the Kamil and Fazil courses run by the board currently, and whatever decision the government takes will be followed.
Meanwhile, former Madrasa Board member Qamar Ali said that the Board's Kamil degree had the status of graduation and Fazil degree had the status of post-graduation, but even earlier they were not recognised for appearing in competitive examinations.
These degree-holders would get jobs only in madrasas which has also ended after the Supreme Court order, he said, demanding the current students be given a chance in recognised universities.
The Madrasa Board had earlier given a proposal to the government to accommodate the students of its Kamil and Fazil courses in the Lucknow-based 'Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Urdu-Arabic-Persian University' but no decision was taken on it, he said.
It is not clear from the order that from when these degrees will be considered unconstitutional, but the government should take steps to affiliate these students with a UGC-recognised university, he said.
There are about 25,000 madrassas in Uttar Pradesh -- 16,500 recognised by the State Madrasa Board and 8,500 unrecognized. A total of 560 of them receive grants from the state government.
In its order on October 5, the SC upheld the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Board Act, 2004, overturning an Allahabad High Court order of March 2024 which declared it unconstitutional.
However, the SC declared the provisions pertaining to higher education (Kamil and Fazil degrees) were unconstitutional (meaning the Madrasa Board cannot offer these degrees) as they are in conflict with University Grant Commission (UGC) Act.
"The UGC Act governs the standards for higher education and a state legislation cannot seek to regulate higher education, in contravention of the provisions of the UGC Act," it said.
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Rs 30,000 cr loss a month: Oil companies bleed as fuel prices on hold amid global energy spike
New Delhi (PTI): About Rs 700-1,000 crore loss per day. Rs 30,000 crore every month. India's state oil companies are quietly absorbing a massive financial hit to keep petrol, diesel and LPG prices unchanged even as global energy markets face a turmoil that is bigger than all previous crises combined.
While countries from Japan to United Kingdom have raised petrol and diesel prices by up to 30 per cent since the start of the West Asia conflict, fuel prices in India continue at two-year-old levels.
The war disrupted India's import of 40 per cent of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel), 90 per cent cooking gas LPG and 65 per cent natural gas (used to generate electricity, make fertilizer, turned into CNG and piped to household kitchens for cooking), but state-owned oil companies have maintained uninterrupted fuel supplies with no rationing or shortage at any point in the last 10 weeks.
But this has come at a cost - Rs 30,000 crore under-recovery or loss every month for the three oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The under-recoveries - the gap between input costs and realised retail prices - rose sharply in March/April before tapering a bit. Daily under-recoveries during April were estimated at about Rs 18 per litre on petrol and Rs 25 per litre on diesel, translating into average losses of Rs 700-1,000 crore a day for OMCs, they said.
At a news briefing on developments in West Asia, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said prices in the international markets, on which India relies to meet 88 per cent of its oil needs, have been volatile and supplies impacted.
Crude oil prices which were around USD 70 per barrel two months ago, are now at USD 120, she said. "It has been government's endeavour to keep prices stable so far and that there is no price increase for consumers," she said. "This has hit finances of OMCs... monthly under-recoveries are of the order of Rs 30,000 crore."
She, however, refused to say if retail petrol and diesel prices will continue to hold.
"As I said, the endeavour so far has been to see that there is no price increase," she said.
The three oil marketing companies (OMCs) have worked overtime to keep the supply lines running even when demand spiked due to panic buying.
The government intervention included excise duty reductions and absorption of part of the fuel cost burden. The special additional excise duty on petrol was cut to Rs 3 per litre from Rs 13, while excise duty on diesel was reduced to zero from Rs 10 per litre.
The under-recoveries would have swelled to nearly Rs 62,500 crore had the government not cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre each.
The government, Sharma said, has taken a hit of Rs 14,000 crore a month in cutting the excise duty.
The Centre's effective absorption at peak crude prices was estimated at around Rs 24 per litre for petrol and Rs 30 per litre for diesel.
The February 28 strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran triggered a sharp escalation in West Asia tensions. Energy prices surged as the conflict widened and shipping risks intensified in the Strait of Hormuz - the shipping lane through which India and other countries imported crude oil, LPG and natural gas from Gulf countries. Tanker movement was disrupted.
The companies also faced additional costs from emergency crude sourcing, higher freight charges due to vessel diversions, elevated marine insurance premiums and refinery optimisation expenses. Despite these pressures, fuel and LPG supplies remained uninterrupted across the country.
The surge in crude prices and the decision to shield consumers from higher retail prices placed significant strain on OMC balance sheets and refining margins, sources said.
They added that the measures reflected a policy decision to prioritise consumer stability and economic continuity during a global energy shock.
Sources warned that a prolonged period of elevated crude prices could lead to higher working capital borrowings and force some recalibration of capital expenditure plans. However, investments linked to refining expansion, energy security infrastructure, ethanol blending, biofuels and transition fuels would continue with government backing, they said.
India's approach contrasted with measures adopted by several other economies, where fuel prices rose sharply after the conflict-driven energy shock.
Petrol prices increased by about 34 per cent in Spain, 30 per cent in Japan, Italy and Israel, 27 per cent in Germany and 22 per cent in the United Kingdom, according to estimates. Several countries also introduced rationing, conservation advisories, emergency relief packages or fuel caps.
In India, petrol prices remained Rs 94.77 per litre and diesel at Rs 87.67, with no rationing, mobility restrictions or supply disruptions, they added.
Sharma said the revenues that OMCs earn are used to buy crude oil, build infrastructure to process it into fuel and create channels that will take the fuel to consumers.
Their capex spending is all dependent on the revenues they earn, she added.
