Government of Kerala. should explain the reason for the change in attitude towards Prime Minister SHRI: Pinarayi

Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government of abandoning its earlier stand on the Union government’s PM SHRI (Prime Minister’s School for the Rise of India) scheme and said the government should spell out its reasons for going ahead with the scheme, which was frozen by the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

UDF government’s attitude towards PM SHRI is unconstitutional

Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Vijayan said that the LDF government had initially signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for Prime Minister SHRI because the Union government had withheld funds from the Samagra Shiksha scheme to the tune of ₹1,158 crore, disrupting important expenditure in the education sector. The state government then decided to sign an MoU to release these funds. However, it has decided not to go ahead with the PM SHRI scheme or take any step towards its implementation.

“The signing of the MoU does not commit the state to implement the programme. Follow-up steps including setting up monitoring committees at the state and district levels as submission of a list of schools is required. The LDF has not taken any of these steps and further told the Union government in a letter dated November 12, 2025 that the government’s decision is keeping the program in place only if the UDF can be implemented. it must explain what it has led to this decision to go ahead with this scheme. Has the Union Government sent any order to the State Government in this regard?’ Mr. Vijayan asked.

He refuted Chief Minister VD 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 the Parliament are proof that they have not provided funds under PM SHRI Kerala. The funds that have been 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 in July still withdrew220 the option of not implementing the scheme from the Government220. scheme,” he said.

He said all the Congress-ruled state governments in the country have implemented the PM SHRI scheme and are also ready to adopt changes in textbooks under the National Education Policy. “Kerala is the only state which is not removing chapters from school textbooks as stipulated by the Union government. Our state will not lose much if we don’t get PM SHRI funds as the condition of our government schools has improved significantly in the last ten years. However, SSK funds were requested which included the money needed to implement Right To Education,” he said, adding that it was unfair that we withheld these funds.

Mr. Vijayan also hit out at the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) for blaming the BJP-CPI(M) deal on the PM SHRI scheme during the tenure of the LDF government. “They claimed that they would not implement this system if they came to power. Now they are actively pushing the plan which LDF has frozen,” he said.

Exit the scheme: SFI

The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) demanded that the government withdraw from the scheme. Speaking at a press conference here on Thursday, State Secretary PS Sanjeev said the government would face stiff opposition from SFI if it went ahead 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 to the previous LDF government. The government also did not consult student organizations before deciding to go ahead with the PM SHRI programme, he said.

Published – 18 Jun 2026 21:05 IST