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Accusing the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) authorities of abandoning its earlier stance connected the Union government’s PM SHRI (Prime Minister Schools for Rising India) scheme, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said that the authorities should spell retired the reasons for it to determination up with the strategy which the erstwhile Left Democratic Front (LDF) authorities had frozen.
Addressing a property league here, Mr. Vijayan said the LDF authorities had initially signed a memorandum of knowing (MoU) for PM SHRI arsenic the Union authorities had withheld the Samagra Shiksha Scheme funds of ₹1,158 crore, disrupting important spending successful the acquisition sector. The State authorities past decided to motion the MoU to get these funds released. However, it decided to not determination up with the PM SHRI strategy oregon initiate immoderate measurement for its implementation.
“Signing of an MoU does not hindrance the State to instrumentality the scheme. Follow-up steps, including the mounting up of monitoring committees astatine the State and territory levels arsenic submission of the database of schools is required. The LDF did not instrumentality immoderate of these steps and further communicated to the Union authorities successful a missive dated November 12, 2025 that the authorities is keeping the strategy successful abeyance. The strategy tin beryllium implemented lone if the UDF authorities takes a argumentation determination to that effect. The UDF authorities indispensable explicate what prompted it to instrumentality this determination to determination up with the scheme. Has the Union authorities sent immoderate directive to the State authorities regarding this?“ asked Mr.Vijayan.
He refuted Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan’s assertion that the State authorities had received funds arsenic portion of PM SHRI. “On what ground is the CM making specified misleading claims? The replies from the Union authorities successful Parliament are impervious that it has not provided funds nether PM SHRI to Kerala. The funds that were released are portion of Samagra Shiksha, which has thing to bash with PM SHRI. The assertion that the authorities cannot retreat from the MoU is besides mendacious arsenic the Punjab authorities withdrew from the strategy successful July 2023. The State authorities inactive has an enactment to not instrumentality the scheme,” helium said.
He said each Congress-ruled State authorities successful the state had implemented the PM SHRI strategy and were besides acceptable to follow the changes successful textbooks arsenic per the National Education Policy. “Kerala is the lone State to not region chapters from the schoolhouse textbooks arsenic stipulated by the Union government. Our State does not basal to suffer overmuch if we don’t get PM SHRI funds arsenic the information of our authorities schools has vastly improved successful the past 10 years. However, SSK funds, which included the wealth needed for Right To Education implementation, was required and it was unfair to withhold that. We did a good intentioned enactment to get those funds released,” helium said.
Mr. Vijayan besides lashed retired astatine the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) who had during the tenure of the LDF authorities alleged a BJP-CPI(M) woody implicit the PM SHRI scheme. “They claimed that they would not instrumentality the strategy if they came to power. Now they are actively pushing up with a strategy which the LDF had frozen,” helium said.
Withdraw from scheme: SFI
The Students Federation of India (SFI) demanded that the authorities retreat from the scheme. State caput P.S. Sanjeev told a property league present connected Thursday that the authorities would look beardown absorption from the SFI if it proceeded with its plans to instrumentality the strategy successful Kerala.
The UDF authorities was trying to wriggle retired of the PM SHRI contention by shifting the blasted connected to the erstwhile LDF government. Before deciding to proceed with PM SHRI scheme, the authorities besides did not consult students’ organisations, helium said.
