PM SHRI Put on Hold in Kerala Following Strong Opposition From CPI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Government on Wednesday decided to constitute a seven-member cabinet sub-committee to review the controversial PM SHRI scheme.

At a press conference here, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Cabinet sub-committee headed by Education Minister V Sivankutty will review the scheme.

The state government will send a letter to the Centre informing the latter that the PM SHRI scheme and the implementation of MoU will be put on hold until the sub-committee submits its report.

The subcommittee members include K Rajan, P Prasad, Roshi Augustine, P Rajeev, A K Saseendran, and K Krishnankutty.

The government was forced to put the PM SHRI MoU on freeze following the strong opposition of the CPI, which is the second largest coalition partner in the ruling LDF headed by CPM.

The CPI alleged that the decision to sign the MoU was taken without taking the LDF and the Cabinet on board. The four ministers of CPI were kept in the dark.

Pinarayi Vijayan agreed to put the PM SHRI on hold as the scheme was against the well-stated position of the Left parties. CPI general secretary D Raja came out in the open against the LDF Government decision, saying that there was no question of accepting or implementing the RSS-prompted scheme.

Earlier, the CPI Ministers had reportedly threatened to skip the Cabinet meeting in protest. However, with the government deciding to review the policy and constituting a subcommittee, the CPI toned down its stand.

The CPI has been outspoken in its opposition to the PM SHRI scheme, a central government initiative launched in 2022 to transform around 14,500 schools into model institutions under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The scheme offers central funding, with Kerala expected to receive Rs 1446 crore for infrastructure and improvements.

Despite the CPI's strong objections, the government went ahead and signed the MoU on October 23, intensifying the internal rift within the ruling coalition.

The CPI and several left-aligned groups and individuals argue that RSS-influenced changes to the curriculum under the guise of NEP cannot be justified for short-term financial benefits. They believe PM SHRI supported NEP, enabling central interference in state-controlled education.

CPI national general secretary D Raja had earlier urged the Kerala government to scrap the MoU signed with the Centre regarding the implementation of PM SHRI. In a letter to his CPM counterpart M.A. Baby, he highlighted that the Kerala Government's decision contradicted the LDF's well-established policy.

Raja said the implementation of NEP is part of the RSS agenda, aiming to promote its ideology through a uniform curriculum that undermines cultural, linguistic and regional diversity. The CPI argued that the central funds, tied to accepting NEP, are a fiscal trap set by the BJP-led central government.

Senior CPM leader and Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty initially defended signing the MoU for the PM SHRI scheme, calling it a tactical move and a practical decision. He emphasised the need to secure crucial central funding without compromising Kerala's independent, secular education system.