Failing to get nod for religious conversion, Gujarat man moves High Court
Ahmedabad: A 32-year-old Hindu man seeking to convert to Islam has moved the Gujarat High Court to direct Bharuch district authorities to expedite the process, as he has already waited for more than a year after submitting an application for the same.
Petitioner Jignesh Patel's lawyer M T Saiyad on Thursday said Bharuch's collector has withheld Patel's application for more than a year, despite a sub-divisional magistrate's inquiry report filed in February 2020 giving a favourable opinion that he may be granted permission for conversion.
In a recent order, Justice Bela Trivedi directed the district collector to decide on Patel's application "as expeditiously as possible", preferably within eight weeks.
"The application seeking permission of the collector at Bharuchis pending for more than a year. The petition was filed to direct the collector to decide on the application," Patel's lawyer said.
The sub-divisional magistrate's report established that Patel was not under pressure to convert, as mandated in the state's anti-conversion law, Saiyad said.
Patel submitted his application to the collector on November 26, 2019, with a declaration that he was not under pressure or allurement for conversion.
The petitioner said in his affidavit that he was attracted to Islam and wanted to convert to the religion.
He had been living like a Muslim for six years, observing fasts during Ramzan, offering namaz and following other rituals associated with the religion, he said in the affidavit.
His application was even supported by one Imran Patel, the person who was to preside over the conversion, originally scheduled on January 1, 2020, but the collector never responded, Jignesh Patel said in his plea before the HC.
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School enrolment drops for third consecutive year: Government data
New Delhi: School enrolment in India has declined for the third year in a row, according to data released by the Union Ministry of Education, highlighting a concerning trend in the country's school education system.
The latest figures from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), as cited by Scroll on Friday, reveal that total school enrolment stood at 24.6 crore in 2024–25, down from 24.8 crore in 2023–24 and 25.1 crore in 2022–23. This marks a drop of 11 lakh students in the most recent academic year.
The data indicates that the decline is primarily concentrated in government and government-aided schools, while private schools continue to see an increase in enrolment. Between 2022–23 and 2024–25, enrolment in government and aided schools dropped significantly from 13.6 crore to 12.1 crore. In contrast, private school enrolment rose from 8.4 crore to 9.5 crore during the same period.
As a result, private institutions now account for 39% of total enrolment, the highest share since 2018–19. The shift in preference is also reflected in the number of institutions: government schools fell slightly from 10.18 lakh in 2023–24 to 10.13 lakh in 2024–25, while the number of private schools grew from 3.31 lakh to 3.79 lakh.
The sharpest decline in enrolment was observed among children aged 3 to 11 years where enrolment dropped by 25 lakh in 2024-25 compared to the previous year. However, modest increases were reported at the pre-primary, upper primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels.
This trend aligns with findings from the 2024 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), released earlier in January, which also highlighted a post-pandemic decline in government school enrolments.
