For the first time, Madrasas or Islamic seminaries in Bihar will introduce the National Cadet Corps and Scouts and Guides for students this year, official sources said on Thursday.
The Bihar State Madrasa Education Board has received clearance from the state for 500 madrasas, they added.
"By joining the NCC, the madrasas students will get a chance to interact with outside students and provide them opportunity to join national mainstream," board president Abdul Wahid Ansari told rediff.com.
He, however, stressed that the new initiative would be introduced only in madrasas that have their own field or parade ground.
Ansari said that all madrasas students, who will opt for NCC or Scouts and Guides, would be provided with khaki uniform. "It will be the first time that madrasas students will wear khaki uniform like other government school students," he added.
Ansari added that the board has chalked out a plan to cover all the madrasas in state under this new scheme in the next three years.
There are over 40,000 madrasas in Bihar including 1,119 state-run Islamic schools and 2,469 that are affiliated to the board. The others are not affiliated and manage funding through donations and charity.
Ansari also said that over 100 Hindu children were enrolled in the state's madrasas, breaking the myth that these institutions preached religious fundamentalism or fomented anti-nationalism.
