Decision on PM SHRI soon as pressure mounts on Keralam govt.

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N. Samsudheen, Keralam General Education Minister

Even as the Muslim Youth League (MYL) doubles down on its resistance to the PM SHRI (Prime Minister’s Schools for Rising India) scheme, pressure is mounting on the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Keralam to resolve the impasse.

Digging in its heels on the issue, the MYL, a day ago, adopted a resolution urging the government not to take any steps to implement PM SHRI.

The political and financial exigencies involved were underscored when Minister for General Education N. Samsudheen recently said the Union government had again sent a letter to Keralam, asking it to take a decision at the earliest. The last letter from the Union government, sent in May, reminded Keralam that only a limited time was left for the scheme to complete its duration.

The Minister went on to indicate that after discussions, a decision on the State’s position would be taken by the Chief Minister and the UDF leadership, following which the Chief Minister will make the announcement.

Against the backdrop of the months-long delay in taking a decision and the communication from the Centre, Mr. Samsudheen’s statement signals that a decision will be made sooner than later.

A four-member Cabinet subcommittee formed to study the scheme implementation will likely convene next week to finalise its report and submit it to the government. The committee had originally been given a month to prepare the report.

Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan had earlier spoken in favour of going ahead with the scheme, highlighting its financial benefits. If not, the State would lose around ₹1,500 crore in Samagra Shiksha funds, besides PM SHRI funds.

Since the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had signed the agreement before putting the scheme implementation in abeyance, the UDF government was being forced to continue with the scheme. There was no provision to withdraw from it, Mr. Satheesan had argued.

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second-largest UDF constituent, which had earlier stated its opposition to the scheme, too has indicated a softening of its stance by stating it would wait for the Cabinet subcommittee report. As the government looks to be exploring ways to go ahead with the project, the decision is likely to be based on the argument that State cannot afford to let Union government funds lapse.

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