Illegal construction: 10% of Hyderabad madrassas built on state land, says report

HYDERABAD:

Nearly 10 per cent of the 649 madrassas in the Hyderabad police range are built on state land, according to a report compiled by Hyderabad DIG's office.

A majority of these seminaries, built illegally on government land, are in Jamshoro district (51), followed by 13 in Dadu and two in Badin. Hyderabad DIG Dr Sanaullah Abbassi directed the SSPs of all the nine districts in the police range to take action after issuing a 15-day warning. He was speaking at a meeting on Thursday.

The police have also completed a survey of students and teachers in the seminaries in eight districts excluding Hyderabad where the process is underway. According to the report, only a small fraction of teachers and students belong to other provinces. Only 104 students out of 28,500 are from other provinces and, similarly, just 12 of the faculty members out of 990 are not from Sindh.

The DIG asked the SSPs to verify the permanent addresses and credentials of the teachers and students from other provinces from the relevant police stations.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2015.