Accusing the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government of abandoning its earlier stance on the Union government’s PM SHRI (Prime Minister Schools for Rising India) scheme, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said that the government should spell out the reasons for it to move ahead with the scheme which the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had frozen.
UDF government’s stance on PM SHRI unconstitutional
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Vijayan said the LDF government had initially signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for PM SHRI as the Union government had withheld the Samagra Shiksha Scheme funds of ₹1,158 crore, disrupting important spending in the education sector. The State government then decided to sign the MoU to get these funds released. However, it decided to not move ahead with the PM SHRI scheme or initiate any step for its implementation.
“Signing of an MoU does not bind the State to implement the scheme. Follow-up steps, including the setting up of monitoring committees at the State and district levels as submission of the list of schools is required. The LDF did not take any of these steps and further communicated to the Union government in a letter dated November 12, 2025 that the government is keeping the scheme in abeyance. The scheme can be implemented only if the UDF government takes a policy decision to that effect. The UDF government must explain what prompted it to take this decision to move ahead with the scheme. Has the Union government sent any directive to the State government regarding this?“ asked Mr.Vijayan.
He refuted Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan’s claim that the State government had received funds as part of PM SHRI. “On what basis is the CM making such misleading claims? The replies from the Union government in Parliament are proof that it has not provided funds under PM SHRI to Kerala. The funds that were released are part of Samagra Shiksha, which has nothing to do with PM SHRI. The claim that the government cannot withdraw from the MoU is also false as the Punjab government withdrew from the scheme in July 2023. The State government still has an option to not implement the scheme,” he said.
He said every Congress-ruled State government in the country had implemented the PM SHRI scheme and were also ready to adopt the changes in textbooks as per the National Education Policy. “Kerala is the only State to not remove chapters from the school textbooks as stipulated by the Union government. Our State does not stand to lose much if we don’t get PM SHRI funds as the condition of our government schools has vastly improved in the past ten years. However, SSK funds, which included the money needed for Right To Education implementation, was required and it was unfair to withhold that. We did a well intentioned act to get those funds released,” he said.
Mr. Vijayan also lashed out at the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) who had during the tenure of the LDF government alleged a BJP-CPI(M) deal over the PM SHRI scheme. “They claimed that they would not implement the scheme if they came to power. Now they are actively pushing ahead with a scheme which the LDF had frozen,” he said.
Withdraw from scheme: SFI
The Students Federation of India (SFI) demanded that the government withdraw from the scheme. State secretary P.S. Sanjeev told a press conference here on Thursday that the government would face strong opposition from the SFI if it proceeded with its plans to implement the scheme in Kerala.
The UDF government was trying to wriggle out of the PM SHRI controversy by shifting the blame on to the previous LDF government. Before deciding to proceed with PM SHRI scheme, the government also did not consult students’ organisations, he said.
Published – June 18, 2026 09:05 pm IST
