Though some quarters confirm that the government has already frozen all formalities related to the scheme, the CPI(M) and the LDF are yet to make an official announcement.
Published Oct 29, 2025 | 4:43 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 29, 2025 | 7:25 PM
PM SHRI. (Supplied)
Synopsis: The move comes after four CPI ministers — K Rajan, P Prasad, G R Anil, and J Chinchurani — reportedly decided to boycott the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the Cabinet that a seven-member Cabinet sub-committee will review the implementation of the scheme in the state.
In a significant development, the CPI(M), the largest constituent in the ruling LDF in Kerala, has decided to withhold the implementation of the PM-SHRI scheme. A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, 29 October, formed a panel to review the controversial move.
The change in CPI(M)’s stance came after strong objections from its political allies, especially the CPI.
At the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that a seven-member Cabinet sub-committee will review the implementation of the scheme in the state.
The committee will be chaired by General Education Minister V Sivankutty and will include Revenue Minister K Rajan, Agriculture Minister P Prasad, Water Resources Minister Roshi Augustine, Law Minister P Rajeev, Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty, and Forest Minister AK Saseendran.
“Considering the controversies and concerns raised regarding the PM-SHRI scheme, the committee will conduct a detailed review. The state will also write to the Union government requesting that the implementation be frozen until the committee submits its report,” the Chief Minister said.
The composition of the sub-committee appears to reflect a conscious effort to restore balance within the LDF after days of friction.
The panel includes two CPI(M) ministers, two CPI ministers, and one representative each from Kerala Congress (M), Janata Dal (Secular), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — a move that ensures representation from all major LDF constituents.
Earlier, the CPI and several other allies had publicly expressed displeasure over what they termed the CPI(M)’s “unilateral decision” to sign the memorandum of understanding with the Centre under the PM SHRI scheme, allegedly without adequate consultation within the front.
The controversy had triggered an unusual degree of dissent within the ruling coalition, with the CPI describing the move as a “breach of collective decision-making.”
Wednesday’s decision to form an inclusive review panel — following a series of high-level meetings earlier in the day — is widely seen as a political victory for the CPI, which had mounted pressure on the lead partner to revisit its stance.
The PM-SHRI (Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India) scheme, launched by the Union government, aims to develop model schools across the country. However, the Left government in Kerala had faced criticism for agreeing to implement a centrally sponsored project that its allies claimed could undermine the state’s public education model and autonomy.
With the new Cabinet sub-committee set to re-examine the decision, the LDF seems to have sought a temporary truce — but the review’s outcome may well determine whether the coalition can maintain unity amid growing ideological and political strains.
The government’s move comes after four CPI ministers — K Rajan, P Prasad, G R Anil, and J Chinchurani — reportedly decided to boycott the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, in protest against the state government’s decision to sign the National Education Policy (NEP)-linked PM-SHRI agreement without consulting the LDF or the cabinet.
Top CPI(M) leaders, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, party general secretary MA Baby, state secretary MV Govindan, and LDF convenor TP Ramakrishnan, held a closed-door meeting at the AKG Centre on Wednesday to defuse the crisis. It’s said Govindan even skipped official events in Kannur to attend the emergency talks — a sign of the gravity of the situation.
Sources earlier said that the CPI(M) leadership was considering a “face-saving” formula, possibly by putting the PM-SHRI implementation on hold and writing to the Union government seeking relaxations in the scheme’s conditions, which the LDF views as incompatible with the state’s education policy.
Meanwhile, the CPI’s State Secretariat convened at MN Smarakam to assess the political situation, which has exposed rare cracks within the LDF over the NEP-linked central initiative worth an estimated ₹1,446 crore.
A storm has been raging in the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala ever since the state General Education Secretary K Vasuki signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union Government to implement PM-SHRI on 23 October.
The MoU was reportedly signed without the knowledge of the alliance partners.
Minister Sivankutty said the state joined the PM-SHRI scheme only to avoid losing about ₹1,500 crore in central aid. He explained that the Centre had withheld Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) — a flagship central programme supporting school education — funds over the state’s earlier refusal to join the scheme.
Sivankutty added that 165 schools have been selected and clarified that Kerala will continue to use its own textbooks, a concern many had expressed. It was widely feared that the PM-SHRI scheme would push Hindutva ideology in schools.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Dileep V Kumar)
