ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Secretariat has issued the gazette notification for the Societies Registration Act 2024. This bill, signed by the President, has now become official.
According to the notification, this will be called the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act 2024, and it will be enforced immediately.
The law requires all unregistered madrasas to register within six months. Newly established madrasas must register within a year. Madrasas with multiple campuses need only one registration. Every madrasa must submit an annual report of its educational activities to the registrar and appoint an auditor for financial auditing. The audit report must also be submitted to the registrar.
The law also bans madrasas from promoting sectarianism or religious hatred, and each madrasa must include basic modern subjects in its curriculum, according to its resources. Once registered, madrasas will not need further registration under any other law.
Earlier, after protests by the JUI-F, President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act 2024 into law. This was done on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, after which the National Assembly Secretariat issued the gazette notification, resolving the issue of madrasa registration after two months.
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The notification mentions that registration of madrasas will now be handled by the Ministry of Industries and Production instead of the Ministry of Education. However, madrasas in Islamabad can still register under the Ministry of Education.
The JUI-F welcomed the notification, calling it a victory for the supremacy of Parliament and the Constitution. Maulana Fazlur Rehman congratulated the madrasas for achieving their long-standing demand and thanked the guidance of Mufti Taqi Usmani and Kamran Murtaza for their support.
