Kerala agrees to implement PM-SHRI scheme after 3 yrs

After refusing for three years to participate in the Centre’s flagship PM-SHRI scheme, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala has agreed to implement it.

The development has sparked a political controversy in Kerala. The opposition Congress has criticised the state government, while the move was also opposed within the LDF. The CPI said it was not consulted and argued that the Left’s stand so far had been to oppose the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The Union Education Ministry termed the decision a “major milestone”.

Approved in 2022, the PM Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) scheme aims to develop 14,500 schools to “showcase” aspects of the NEP 2020. The Centre has linked the release of funds under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to implementation of PM-SHRI. SSA is funded by the Centre and the States in a 60:40 ratio.

Due to the refusal of West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu to implement the scheme, the central government had withheld over Rs 1,000 crore from West Bengal, Rs 859.63 crore from Kerala and Rs 2,152 crore from Tamil Nadu.

Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty said the state government’s decision to sign the MoU with the Union Government was a “strategic move” to facilitate the release of blocked funds.