Kochi: The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala has decided to put the PM-SHRI (Prime Minister – Schools for Rising India) program on hold for a while. The Communist Party of India (CPI), which is a crucial partner in the coalition, put a lot of pressure on the government to make this decision, which was announced on Wednesday.
At a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan confirmed the news and said, “Due to the concerns and controversies surrounding the signing of the MoU for the PM-Shri scheme, the government has decided to review it.”
He also said that a seven-member cabinet subcommittee will be set up to look over the plan and write a report. The Chief Minister said, “The Kerala government will send a letter to the Union government saying that it will not go ahead with the implementation of the scheme until the cabinet subcommittee submits the report.”
The sudden change in policy
The administration’s change of heart is especially surprising because it happened just a few days after K. Vasuki, the secretary of the Kerala general education department, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union government in New Delhi. The MoU was meant to get important money for building school infrastructure and to get back money that was owed under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) plan.
When reporters asked the Chief Minister why the administration chose to evaluate the initiative after signing the MoU and whether the Union government hurried the state, he refused to answer, saying only, “Anyway, we have decided to review it.” For now, let’s not delve into additional details.
CPI’s Position and the “Victory of Left Unity”
The policy standstill happened because the CPI(M) and the CPI, the two main partners in the ruling LDF, couldn’t agree on anything after multiple sessions. The CPI, which has 16 MLAs and four cabinet ministers, has always said that the MoU was signed too soon, without the right amount of discussion inside the LDF or the cabinet.
The main reason the CPI is against the plan is that they are afraid it will lead to the “saffronization of education” in Kerala by allowing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to be put into place, which the party strongly opposes.
On the other hand, the CPI(M) and State General Education Minister V. Sivankutty said at first that the state couldn’t afford to miss out on the scheme’s large financial aid, which included important SSA payments that were still owed to pay staff salaries.
After the CPI(M) promised that the plan would be put on hold for a short time, CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam praised the decision, saying, “This is the victory of the LDF and Left unity.” It is a win for Left values.
Criticism from the other side
V.D. Satheesan, the leader of the opposition, strongly attacked the government’s move, questioning the timing and honesty of the assessment.
“A cabinet subcommittee should have been set up before signing the MoU.” What does the subcommittee mean after signing it? Satheesan charged. He also said that the subcommittee’s report didn’t have a deadline, calling the measure “a tactic to save the government’s face.” He ended with a scathing comment directed at the coalition partner: “The CPI must at least know this.” The BJP has more control over the government than the CPI.