Practical steps will be taken to remove legal, administrative and operational hurdles faced by religious seminaries in opening bank accounts, it was decided at a meeting held here on Tuesday.

The meeting was chaired by Director General Religious Education (DGRE) Maj Gen (retd) Dr Qamar Ghulam and attended by leaders and representatives of various religious education boards, heads of seminaries and senior officials of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and commercial banks.

The participants held detailed discussions on the difficulties faced by seminaries in opening bank accounts and examined their underlying causes. The meeting made significant progress towards resolving the longstanding issue through consultation and consensus among the DGRE, SBP and representatives of religious education boards.

Representatives of the religious boards said seminaries constituted a large and organised educational and training sector where millions of boys and girls received religious and moral education with limited state financial support. They said seminaries also played a role in promoting compliance with state laws, sectarian tolerance, social harmony, national unity and patriotism.

The participants described the establishment of the DGRE as a significant development in the state's policy towards religious seminaries, saying it had provided a national-level platform for coordination, representation and resolution of their issues.