Thiruvananthapuram: After a prolonged spell of uncertainty, the Kerala government under LDF has decided to become a signatory to the Central Government’s education programme, PM SHRI (Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India), brushing aside objections raised by the CPI, one of its key coalition partners.

Education Minister V Sivankutty confirmed that the decision to join the scheme has been communicated to the Centre and that the department secretary has been instructed to sign the agreement. 

“This was the only way to secure the Centre’s share of ₹1,500 crore, which is pending for various educational programmes in Kerala,” the minister said.

Although the CPM and the Department of General Education had agreed to join the PM SHRI project much earlier, the government was forced to withdraw twice following strong objections from the CPI. The latest decision to proceed was taken without placing the matter before the State Cabinet.

According to the minister, there was no need for cabinet approval as the move followed the same procedure adopted by the Agriculture and Higher Education departments while joining central projects.

The decision to join PM SHRI was revived following a meeting between Minister Sivankutty and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Following this,  Sivankutty also held discussions with the Chief Minister and CPM leadership before moving forward.

The PM SHRI scheme aims to develop infrastructure in two schools from each block with central assistance. Each selected school will receive an annual average assistance of ₹1 crore for five years.

Initially, the state government had opposed joining the scheme, arguing that it could pave the way for the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) in Kerala. Concerns were also raised over the requirement to display boards identifying schools as ‘PM SHRI Schools.’

However, according to the General Education Department, Kerala’s delay in signing up for PM SHRI has resulted in the suspension of the Centre’s share of ₹1,500 crore for the implementation of projects under Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) for the past two years. This setback also affected salary disbursements to around 6,000 SSK employees, creating a financial crisis. Meanwhile, the Education Minister also maintained that Kerala will not implement any provisions of the NEP that the state has officially rejected, including the removal of historical content from school curricula, even after joining the PM SHRI scheme.