Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has reportedly frozen all formalities for implementing the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme, a central government project, following opposition from the CPI, a key ally of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). Manorama News reported that the state government would write to the Centre seeking relaxations in the conditions of the PM SHRI scheme. The government is likely to inform the Union government that some of the conditions are unacceptable.

According to reports, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has already instructed the Education Department to halt preparations for finalising the list of schools to be brought under the PM SHRI scheme. 

CPM took this decision in the party’s available secretariat meeting held at AKG Centre on Wednesday. The party and the LDF government are yet to make an official announcement regarding this. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, CPM national general secretary MA Baby, state secretary MV Govindan and LDF convener TP Ramakrishnan attended the meeting. 

The state government’s move came after four CPI ministers — K Rajan, P Prasad, GR Anil Kumar, and J Chinchurani — announced a boycott of today's cabinet meeting to protest against the implementation of the PM SHRI scheme in Kerala.

Amid the ongoing political tension, the CPI has demanded that the government freeze the PM SHRI MoU and send an official letter to the Centre declaring its position. The party also asked the government to make this letter public. However, it is learned that Kerala may not be able to withdraw from the project since government representatives have already signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre.

As per the scheme guidelines, if a state violates the terms of the agreement, the Centre can take action to recover the funds already granted.

In a bid to pacify CPI, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held discussions with party state secretary Binoy Viswam and the party’s ministers on Monday, but the talks failed to reach a consensus. The CPI remains firm in its stance that the PM SHRI scheme aims to “communalising, centralising, and commercialising” the education sector through the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP).

The CPI locked horns with CPM after documents revealed that the government signed the MoU for PM SHRI without discussing the matter with the cabinet and LDF allies. Binoy Viswam questioned the unusual haste behind the move and wrote a letter to LDF convener TP Ramakrishnan seeking discussion over the matter. As per reports, LDF will summon an emergency meeting amid this political turmoil.

According to reports, CPM national secretariat member MA Baby is expected to intervene to ease the standoff. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPM state secretary MV Govindan are continuing discussions with CPI leadership, as the deadlock threatens to impact the smooth functioning of the state government.