Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty said on Tuesday that the central government has withheld ₹1,500.27 crore meant for the state under various centrally sponsored schemes.

Sivankutty said the Centre has not released the funds because Kerala has not signed the PM SHRI scheme memorandum.

The minister said he had raised the matter with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during his recent meeting with him in New Delhi. "They told us this verbally, but they are not giving it to us in writing," he said during a press conference. 

Sivankutty said he will meet his Tamil Nadu counterpart soon to team up with the neighbouring state to raise the matter with the Centre. "We are planning to raise this issue jointly with Tamil Nadu, as they are also facing the same problem," Sivankutty said.

The minister added that the Kerala government is also considering seeking legal options from the advocate general to recover the pending funds.

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