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After years of hesitation, Kerala has decided to participate in the PM SHRI (PM’s Schools for Rising India) initiative, a Union government programme aimed at improving the quality of education in state schools. Until now, Kerala, along with Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, had refrained from joining the scheme.
General Education Minister V Sivankutty noted that signing on would enable the state to access significant Union funds, including around Rs 1,500 crore pending from the Union government through schemes such as Samagra Shiksha. These funds are intended to support activities like printing textbooks, setting question papers, and providing facilities for students from SC, ST, and coastal communities, including travel, meals, and hostels.
The decision follows a shift in stance after previous opposition from the Communist Party of India (CPI), a coalition partner, which had earlier blocked Cabinet approval of the scheme.
Sivankutty had earlier stated that the government would not sign the PM SHRI memorandum of understanding (MoU), since it involves adopting several recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) introduced by the Union government in 2020. CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam reiterated the party’s opposition to the NEP, describing it as an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-driven agenda, and criticised the government for moving forward without consulting the Cabinet. Binoy Viswan stated that CPI is still firm on this stand.
Reports suggest that recent meetings between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as discussions between Minister Sivankutty and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, contributed to the decision.
The move has been criticised by the opposition. Kerala Congress president Sunny Joseph suggested it reflects a political alignment between CPI(M) and BJP and argued that proceeding without wider consultation within the Left Democratic Front (LDF) or Cabinet indicates a political strategy.
“The nexus between CPI(M) and BJP has come out in the open. Implementing the PM SHRI scheme without proper consultation in the LDF or the Cabinet is part of that larger design,” Sunny Joseph said.
State officials noted that many NEP-related initiatives, such as teacher training and pre-primary education programmes, are already in place in Kerala, suggesting that PM SHRI could build on these existing efforts.