Stop further proceedings in PM SHRI scheme: Kerala tells Centre

Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala government on Wednesday sent a letter to the Union Education Ministry seeking to stop further proceedings in the implementation of the PM SHRI scheme in the state.

State General Education Secretary K Vasuki sent the letter requesting the union government to temporarily stop the proceedings, a source said.

The letter was sent after receiving the legal opinion of the Advocate General, the source added.

The General Education Department's move came weeks after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced the LDF government's decision to put on hold the implementation of the PM SHRI in view of strong resistance from the coalition partner CPI.

He had said that a seven-member Cabinet sub-committee had been constituted to study the implementation of the central school scheme.

Though the Department had recently signed an MoU with the Centre without even discussing the matter in the Cabinet, the CPI strongly opposed it, saying that the action would pave the way for the implementation of the RSS agenda in the education sector in the state.

Expressing happiness over the sending of the letter, CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam said that the Left parties, including the CPI and the CPI(M), cannot take any decision other than requesting the Centre to stop its implementation in the state.

It is a success of everyone who strongly objects to the "infiltration of the RSS" in the education sector, Viswam added.

In 2020, the Centre announced the PM-SHRI scheme, which aims to upgrade existing schools into institutions aligned with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, supported by funds from the central and state governments in a 60:40 ratio. The Union Cabinet approved the scheme in September 2022.