Calcutta, Sept. 2: The number of beneficiaries under the centrally sponsored pre-matric scholarship scheme for minorities has declined sharply in Bengal in 2014-15, prompting questions on the state government's commitment to uplift them through education.

Data available with the Bengal minority affairs department reveal that after a steady rise in the number over the past few years, 2014-15 witnessed a drop of nearly 1.8 lakh beneficiaries. This is the first time since the scheme was introduced in 2008-09 that the number of beneficiaries has come down in the state.

"According to the latest socio-economic caste census data, the population of Muslims grew by 2.01 per cent in Bengal between 2001 and 2011. It is strange that despite the growth in population, the number of beneficiaries has shrunk," an official said.

Under the scheme, minority students between Classes I and X whose family income is less than Rs 1 lakh a year can apply for the scholarship. A student has to secure at least 50 per cent in the annual exam to be eligible for the scholarship the next year.

A student gets Rs 350 a month for the whole year under the scheme in addition to Rs 1,000 a year as maintenance cost. The scheme starts in September every year and enrolment of students is done by the state government by August.

All students belonging to the minority communities are eligible for the scheme. Around 98 per cent of the beneficiaries in Bengal are Muslims.

The drop has brought under strain chief minister Mamata Banerjee's claim in 2013 that her government had implemented around 90 per cent of the recommendations of the Sachar Committee.

The pre-matric scholarship scheme was one of the major recommendations of the Sachar Committee. It had submitted its report in 2007.

The committee had found that the literacy rate among Muslims was 59.1 per cent in the country, which was below the national average of 64.8 per cent when all communities were taken together. The committee had also mentioned in its report that 25 per cent of Muslim children in the age group of six to 14 years had either never attended school or had dropped out.

Based on the report, the Centre had introduced the pre-matric scholarship scheme.

The state governments send the list of eligible students to the Centre, which then allots funds.

"We could not enrol all the students who needed the money last year because we did not get enough support from the schools, which send the names to the district authorities," said Giyasuddin Mollah, the minister of state for minority affairs.

Senior government officials drew attention to another reason for the drop in enrolment.

"Schools across the state were pressured to enrol at least 20 lakh girl students under the chief minister's pet Kanyashree project. The schools were so busy with Kanyashree last year that they could not focus on the minority scholarship scheme," a senior official said.

So far, 22 lakh girls have been enrolled under Kanyashree, under which a student gets Rs 500 annually and receives Rs 25,000 after attaining the age of 18 if they are still unmarried.

The officials said the government should have maintained a balance as the pre-matric scholarship for minorities was more financially lucrative than Kanyashree.

"The scheme for girl students initiated by the chief minister is a good one, but for this the pre-matric scholarship programme cannot be sent to the back-burner," another official said.

Minister Mollah assured that the government had extended "all support" to schools for 2015-16 and the enrolment figure under the scholarship scheme would improve.