PM SHRI: LDF signed clause giving Centre sole right to withdraw, says Kerala Education Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Education Minister N. Samsudheen said that the LDF government had signed and accepted a clause under the PM SHRI scheme in which the right and authority to withdraw from the agreement rests solely with the Central government. He was speaking in the Assembly in response to an urgent motion moved by the LDF regarding the PM SHRI scheme.

The minister said that the PM SHRI agreement was signed by the previous government, and as a result, the state received ₹99.27 crore in Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) funds that had earlier been withheld. He added that no new agreement or further action had been taken by the UDF government.

According to him, the General Education Secretary had written to the Centre during the previous government’s tenure expressing willingness to implement the PM SHRI scheme. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 16 October 2025. He alleged that it was signed without informing the Cabinet.

Samsudheen further claimed that the LDF government had agreed to a clause stating that the authority to withdraw from the agreement rests solely with the Central government, describing it as a compromise of the state’s interests.

He also said that, following concerns raised over the agreement, no request had been made to cancel it or halt its implementation. Instead, the government had only sought a temporary postponement of implementation until the report of a Cabinet sub-committee was received, which he said had no legal backing.

Citing an article in ‘Deshabhimani’, the CPM mouthpiece, Samsudheen noted that the then Education Minister V. Sivankutty had written that signing up for PM SHRI was in the interest of children’s future. He also pointed out that although a Cabinet sub-committee had been formed at the time, it had not met even after the end of the LDF government’s term. He added that the present government has now constituted a Cabinet committee and that further steps would be taken after its report is submitted.

Meanwhile, P. Prasad, seeking permission to move the motion, questioned why the League had not taken a firm stand against implementing the PM SHRI scheme.