The Central government withheld ₹1,151.48 crore meant for the Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) programme after the state informed that the implementation of the PM SHRI (Prime Minister Schools for Rising India) scheme had been kept in abeyance, Kerala Minister for General Education and Minority Welfare N Samsudheen told the Assembly on Monday.

The amount was due as the Centre's share for the 2025-26 financial year. However, Samsudheen said the Centre released ₹99.27 crore to the state after Kerala signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the PM SHRI scheme in October 2025.

The minister's statement contradicts the stand taken earlier by former General Education Minister V Sivankutty, who had maintained that Kerala never received any funds under the PM SHRI scheme. Rejecting allegations that the previous LDF government had accepted money under the scheme, Sivankutty had argued that since Kerala had not implemented PM SHRI, it had not received any scheme-related funds. He had further stated that the ₹92.41 crore later released by the Centre was not PM SHRI funding but the first instalment due to Samagra Shiksha Kerala, following discussions between the state and the Centre. According to him, the amount was adjusted against reimbursement dues payable to the state under the Right to Education Act.

Explaining the sequence of events, Samsudheen said Kerala signed the PM SHRI MoU in October 2025. Following concerns raised over the agreement, the then state government constituted a Cabinet Sub-Committee, chaired by the then General Education Minister, to review the scheme and submit a report. Pending the committee's findings, the state informed the Union government through a letter dated November 12, 2025, that all further action related to the scheme would be kept in abeyance. However, the Cabinet Sub-Committee neither met nor submitted its report, he said.

Samsudheen further informed the Assembly that under the provisions of the PM SHRI MoU, the state does not have the right to unilaterally withdraw from the scheme. The authority to terminate the agreement, with 30 days' notice in the public interest, rests solely with the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL) under the Union Ministry of Education.

In view of this, the present government constituted a fresh Cabinet Sub-Committee on June 18, 2026, with Samsudheen as its chairperson, to examine whether the scheme could be implemented while safeguarding the state's constitutional powers, including its authority over curriculum preparation and the selection of schools. The committee has been asked to submit its report within one month. The panel held its first meeting on June 24 but has yet to take a final decision on whether Kerala should proceed with the implementation of the PM SHRI scheme, the minister said.

He also informed the House that the Union Ministry of Education had written to the state on May 8, 2026, seeking a decision on the future course of action and urging Kerala to implement the PM SHRI scheme.