ISLAMABAD: The federal government has agreed to the registration of religious seminaries under the Societies Act, according to media reports though there is no word from official quarters or the religious parties yet.
The breakthrough was reported after a meeting between JUI chief Molana Fazlur Rehman and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif a day earlier.
The religious parties running hundreds of seminaries and the federal government have been in a deadlock after President Asif Ali Zardari sent back the Madressa Registration Bill after its passage from parliament last month.
The religious parties are of the view that the registration of the seminaries should be done by the district administration as education had been devolved to provinces under the 18th Amendment. However, the federal government is of the opinion that over 10,000 seminaries had already been registered with the federal education ministry and the remaining should also be registered with the ministry.
Molana Fazlur Rehman after meeting the prime minister said that the latter haf assured him of resolving the issue soon.
Sources said that the prime minister had directed the law ministry for the registration of the religious seminaries under the Societies Act.
According to the media reports, the government has accepted all demands of the madressa board and there would be no need of convening a joint session of parliament to pass the bill after refusal by the president.
The religious parties had earlier warned that they would launch a protest move if the government did not accept their demands.
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