As many as 449 religious institutions have agreed to get affiliated of Madarsah Education Board (MEB) and to introduce syllabus approved by it.
Mufti Abdul Qavi, a member of the MEB claimed this while addressing a press conference here on Tuesday.
"We have decided to establish 96 model religious institutions in the country while 449 religious seminaries have applied for affiliation of MEB, Of them 279 Madaris of Punjab, 76 of Sindh, 92 of NWFP, 24 of Balochistan, 11 of Azad Kashmir and 17 of FATA," he said.
"These institutions would start their classes from March 6,2004", he said and told that Central Zakat Council has distributed scholarships to 3,65,839 students of 1395 institutions.
Religious seminaries organisations alliance (Ittehad Tanzeemat Madaris Deenia Pakistan) which represents 32,000 institutions have also rejected the government offer to get financial assistance from the MEB describing it a tact to monitor the activities of these religious institutions.
The Alliance represents Wifaq-ul-Madaris Al Arabia Pakistan, Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Pakistan, Wifaq-ul-Madaris Salfia, Jamiat-ul-Madaris Islamia Pakistan, and Wifaq-ul-Madaris Al-Shia Pakistan.
Co-ordination Secretary of Wifaq-ul-Madaris Al-Salfia, Muhammad Yamin Zafar alleged that financial assistance of Rs 12 billion donated by the United States was misused and mostly funds were utilised for establishing an office of a new Additional Secretary Education.
He said that National Economic Council has again allocated Rs 5.75 billion for religious seminaries and this amount would also be embezzled.