Kerala: UDF Reverses Stand, Greenlights Union Government’s PM Shri School Scheme
New Delhi: Reversing its earlier opposition to the programme, Kerala's Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government on Thursday (July 30) said that it had decided to implement the Union government's Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme in state-run schools.
Announcing the decision after a UDF meeting, alliance convener and Congress MP Adoor Prakash said the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Union government, making it difficult for the present government to withdraw from it.
Prakhash said that the UDF would continue with the project to secure central funds and that a sub-committee would identify the schools to be included. However, the move is a departure from the alliance’s earlier stance against the scheme in its opposition days.
UDF’s earlier stance
The UDF had accused the LDF government of enabling "saffronisation" of school education by signing a MoU with the Union government. Notably, UDF ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which now holds the education portfolio, had previously said that the scheme would be discontinued if the UDF came to power.
The softening of UDF’s stance comes amid financial constraints and education-related arrears of Rs 1,466 crore in Kerala, the Indian Express reported. The state government had indicated last month that it was willing to implement the scheme if it could retain control over the state syllabus.
Training guns on the Congress-led government, the LDF too questioned the move. Communist Party of India(Marxist) state secretary M.V. Govindan said the previous LDF government had not received any funds under the scheme and accused the Congress of surrendering before the BJP.
“When we signed the MoU with the Centre, Congress had alleged we were implementing the Sangh agenda. The government under the LDF had not taken a single paisa under the scheme,” Govindan told the paper. “Congress has completely surrendered before BJP. Satheesan is lying, the LDF government had not completed any formality for implementing the PM SHRI,” he added.
Background
PM SHRI School is a Union government-sponsored scheme to develop more than 14,500 under a centre-state partnership. According to the PM Shri dashboard, the scheme covers 13,092 schools across 776 districts in the country. In Kerala, 33 Kendriya Vidyalayas and 14 Navodaya Vidyalayas are part of the scheme.
In October last year, the LDF government had put the scheme on hold till it was reviewed by a seven-member cabinet sub-committee, chaired by then education minister V. Sivankutty. The LDF government’s move had come in response to pressure from ally CPI(M) that had expressed concerns about the saffronisation and the RSS agenda underpinning the scheme.
After the LDF government lost power, the UDF government last month constituted a four-member cabinet sub-committee to examine the scheme and communicate the state’s stand to the Union government, news agency PTI reported. The panel comprises ministers N. Samsudheen, Roji M. John, P.C. Vishnunadh and M. Liju.
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