According to Sattar, it generalises the schools without any consideration on the rights of minority educational institutes.

The bill grants 15 per cent reservation in all the schools — both government and private — of the country for the less privileged section. “To pass the Bill in the present form, the government will have to amend Article 30 of the Constitution that gives right to the minority institutions to be administered separately,” said Sattar.

The minister pointed out that the Centre has not taken the state government into confidence in formulating the Bill.

Representatives of about 2,000 minority institutions in the state have voiced their concern over the recommendations of the bill.

In a letter to the Union Human Resource and Development Minister Arjun Singh, West Bengal Association of Minorities Educational Institutes has urged Singh to clarify the government’s stand on minority educational institutions in the bill with the addition of a special clause in it.