Kerala has decided not to join the central government’s school improvement program called PM SHRI. The state’s Education Minister V. Sivankutty made this clear after meeting with student groups. Almost all student unions in Kerala agreed with this decision. Only the ABVP group, which is linked to RSS, wanted Kerala to join the scheme. They left the meeting when others didn’t agree with them.
The minister said Kerala’s government works based on what they promised during elections. Since they never promised to join this school scheme, they cannot sign the agreement now. He also said that according to India’s rules, states can choose whether to join central government programs or not. Nobody can force them to sign anything.
Kerala will also go to court against the central government. The reason is that the central government has stopped ₹1,500 crore of education money that should come to Kerala. This money is for different education programs run by the central government.
The PM SHRI scheme wants to make 14,500 schools across India better. These schools will follow the new National Education Policy from 2020. The total cost of this project is ₹27,360 crore. The central government will pay most of this money (₹18,128 crore), while state governments will pay the rest.
Right now, 12,400 schools in 670 districts have joined this scheme. But Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have not joined because their governments didn’t sign the agreement. Kerala wants to keep control over its own education system and not follow the central government’s plans.
This is not the first time Kerala has disagreed with the central government about education. The state often wants to make its own decisions about schools and education policies. The fight about the ₹1,500 crore education money might continue in court for some time. Kerala believes the central government should not stop this money just because the state doesn’t want to join the PM SHRI scheme.