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The Kerala government on Wednesday, November 12 formally wrote to the Union government requesting a halt to further proceedings in the implementation of the PM SHRI (Prime Minister’s Schools for Rising India) scheme in the state. The move comes following mounting pressure from the Communist Party of India (CPI), a key constituent of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF).
The letter was dispatched after CPI ministers P Prasad and K Rajan met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. General Education Secretary K Vasuki sent the communication after consultations with the Advocate General.
The decision comes two weeks after the Cabinet resolved to freeze the rollout of PM SHRI – a flagship scheme of the Union government – following CPI’s opposition to entering into an MoU with the Union government without Cabinet-level discussion. The state govt decided to review the implementation of the scheme and set up a cabinet sub-committee to oversee the process.
Minister for General Education V Sivankutty confirmed that the government had sought legal advice before sending the letter. Despite earlier meetings between state officials and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi, the letter had remained unsigned, drawing criticism from the CPI.
CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam had repeatedly pressed the government to act. After the communication was finally sent, Viswam described it as a collective triumph of the Left. He said, “The LDF took the proper decision. We are really glad that it was done. It is a victory of the CPI and CPI(M) together.”
He reiterated the party’s ideological objection to what it termed a “Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-oriented education policy,” insisting that Kerala must “politically and legally fight” the withholding of its rightful funds.
Viswam further stated that the move was “a success of everyone who strongly objects to the infiltration of the RSS in the education sector.”
The PM SHRI scheme, announced by the Union government in 2020 and approved by the Union Cabinet in 2022, aims to upgrade selected schools in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, funded jointly by the Union government and states in a 60:40 ratio.
While confirming that the official communication had been sent to the Union government, Minister Sivankutty said that the next steps would depend on the cabinet sub-committee report. The seven-member Cabinet sub-committee chaired by Sivankutty, tasked with reviewing the MoU and the implications of implementing the scheme, has yet to hold its first meeting.