ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: Minister for Religious Affairs Ejazul Haq has said last date for registration of Madressahs set for December 31 will be extended by few weeks.

Talking to APP here on Sunday, he said registration of seminaries would be completed soon as the administrators of Madressahs were responding positively.

The minister said since August 23, 2005, more than 1,800 Madressahs had been registered by the government.

He was confident that the remaining 6,000 seminaries across the country would also be registered with the cooperation of Ulema and religious groups.

He told the agency that over 4,700 Madressahs were already imparting modern education alongside religious education.

Responding to a question, he said the amended societies registration ordinance had been promulgated after taking the Ittehad-i-Tanzimat-i-Madaris-i-Deeniah Pakistan into confidence.

He said reservations of Ulema and various sectarian groups were also removed in the amended law.

Mr Haq said seminaries which had already been registered under the societies act or the trust act would be exempted from registration. However, these Madressahs would submit their audit report and a copy of their annual progress report to the registrar after completion of one year, he added.

The minister said there was no proposal of an audit of the Madressahs by the government. Explaining the point, he said every seminary would maintain accounts of its actual expenses and receipts and submit its annual audit report to the registrar.

About the section of declaration in the registration forms, he said the government reposed complete confidence in Ulema and religious scholars and this section was not more than a formality.

He pointed out that the application forms for identity card, passport and income tax also had declarations and people had no objection to them.