Education Minister V Sivankutty confirmed that the state has informed the Union government and directed officials to sign the agreement.
Published Oct 19, 2025 | 12:12 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 19, 2025 | 12:12 PM
Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty. (Facebook)
Synopsis: The CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala has decided to join the Union government’s PM SHRI scheme, setting aside objections from its ally CPI. Education Minister V Sivankutty confirmed that the state has informed the Union government and directed officials to sign the agreement.
After months of uncertainty, the CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala has decided to join the Union government’s PM SHRI scheme, setting aside objections from its ally CPI.
Education Minister V Sivankutty confirmed that the state has informed the Union government and directed officials to sign the agreement, noting this was necessary to access ₹1,500 crore in pending central funds for education projects.
The decision, taken without cabinet approval, followed Sivankutty’s meeting with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and consultations with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI(M) leadership.
Sivankutty confirmed that the department secretary has been instructed to sign the agreement. He clarified that similar procedures were followed by other departments for central schemes.
“This was the only way to secure the Centre’s share of 1,500 crore, which is pending for various educational programmes in Kerala,” the minister said.
PM SHRI will fund infrastructure upgrades in two schools per block, with each receiving about ₹1 crore annually for five years.
Kerala had earlier opposed the scheme, fearing it would push the NEP and require schools to display PM SHRI boards.
The delay, however, led to the Union government withholding funds under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), affecting the salaries of 6,000 employees.
Sivankutty assured that Kerala will not implement NEP provisions that the state has rejected, including changes to history content, even after joining the scheme.
Kerala has consistently objected to the NEP, claiming it undermines social equity, curbs democratic access to education, and promotes a Vedic belief system incompatible with Constitutional values and contemporary pluralism.
In the case of centrally sponsored PM SHRI schools — envisioned as model schools to showcase NEP implementation — the Centre has insisted on state participation.
Earlier, a Parliamentary Standing Committee pulled up the Ministry of Education over the non-release of SSA funds to West Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, and recommended that pending dues amounting to over ₹4,000 crore be cleared without delay.
Tabling its report in the Rajya Sabha on 16 April, the Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports expressed serious concern that the Centre had withheld SSA funds from these states for not signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the PM SHRI schools scheme — a flagship initiative under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The committee reminded the Education Ministry that the SSA predates PM SHRI and was designed to implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act, a law that ensures free and compulsory education as a fundamental right.
The panel flagged that states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal — known for educational achievements and Gross Enrolment Ratios above the national average — had faced operational challenges due to funding delays. These states were forced to dip into their own resources to pay teachers and manage infrastructure.
It had urged the Centre to immediately release the withheld funds and ensure future SSA allocations remain independent of NEP or PM SHRI scheme compliance.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Sreelakshmi Soman.)
