The Sanatan Seva Nidhi Act

These religions possess a large, organised, and well-equipped cadre of trained religious preceptors, such as maulanas and pastors. They have well-structured institutions that produce religious leaders on a large scale.

For example, Islamic madrasas—estimated to number between 24,000 and 38,000 in India—produce more than 35,000 hafiz and alim every year. A hafiz is one who has memorised the entire Qur'an, and an alim is one who can interpret its verses. Uttar Pradesh alone has approximately 16,000 recognised madrasas.

If unregistered and part-time madrasas are also taken into account, the total number of madrasas in India is estimated at nearly 5,00,000, with around 50 million students, according to one estimate (Essay by Islamic scholar Dr Arjumand Ara, "Madrasas and the Making of Muslim Identity," Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2006).

The well-known Sachar Committee Report conceals this reality by citing only 4% Muslim student participation in madrasas. However, the report considers only children in the 7–9 age group and excludes other age groups such as 5–7 and 9+. It also excludes madrasas attached to mosques, which are believed to constitute a substantial portion of such institutions.

According to UP State Board data, in 2025 in Uttar Pradesh, 21,302 students appeared for the Alim examination (Arabic and Farsi combined), with 17,544 successful candidates. West Bengal records around 12,500 Alim examinees every year.

In contrast, it is rare to find a Hindu priest who has memorised an entire scripture. Most priests have not even read the primary scriptures. There is no systematic training system, nor is there official data on this issue. The few institutions that do exist largely focus on astrology and ritual performance for livelihood purposes rather than on philosophy or doctrine.

As a result, this vital pillar of Sanatan Dharma—the doctrinal preacher—is almost absent, both in number and quality. The role of doctrinal preachers and priests in religion is comparable to that of soldiers in the army of a nation. If an army is small or its soldiers lack weapons, defeat is inevitable. In religion, scriptures are the weapons.

Consequently, Hindus spread across more than 6,00,000 villages in India today lack knowledge and awareness of their own faith. According to one estimate, India has around 20,00,000 temples, most of which either have no priest or no properly trained priest.

Every Muslim household possesses a Qur'an, and every Christian household has a Bible. It is rare to find followers of these religions without their scripture.

Sadly, this is not the case among Hindus. The near-complete absence of scriptures in over 23 crore Hindu households is a major weakness. Without reading scripture, religious consciousness cannot develop.

The third weakness of Hinduism lies in the neglected condition of most rural temples and many urban shrines. These temples are no longer vibrant centres of spiritual life because they lack doctrinal preachers and trained priests who can guide people in religion and spirituality. In many cases, they have no priests at all.

In numerous villages of North India, temples have become centres of idleness or intoxication. Land donated to temples has often been encroached upon. As a result, these temples lie abandoned—without priests, without doctrinal preachers, and without meaningful activity.

If learned and active priests or doctrinal preachers—hereafter referred to as Adhyatma-Acharyas—are appointed in these temples, they can become centres not only of religious life but also of cultural and economic development. The goal should be for every temple to become a living centre of spiritual, cultural, and even economic renewal.

If this is achieved, Sanatan Dharma will grow stronger and will be able to engage competing religions through positive and constructive means. If temples also serve as centres for guidance in poverty alleviation, a spiritually enriched Sanatan Dharma can naturally surpass its competitors.

The fourth weakness of Hinduism is its lack of unity. It is divided into countless sects and sub-traditions. A partial solution lies in ensuring that every Hindu family possesses one or two universally shared scriptures.

Shared scriptures create a shared vision, and shared vision forms the foundation of religious unity. Hinduism does possess such universally accepted texts—the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana.

Hinduism lacks an obligatory institutional system of giving comparable to zakat in Islam, where every Muslim is required to contribute and the funds are used exclusively for the welfare and expansion of the Islamic community, including conversion activities.

Although Hindu scriptures prescribe giving as a continuous duty, in practice Hindu society lacks a structured and trusted mechanism for collecting donations dedicated solely to Hindu welfare. This discourages voluntary contributions to a transparent and accountable Hindu fund.