Thiruvananthapuram: Dr Ratheesh Kaliyadan, former Additional Private Secretary to ex-chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has stated that it was incorrect for the LDF government to sign the PM SHRI agreement by bypassing the Cabinet.

The criticism was raised in an article written for a weekly magazine. Ratheesh Kaliyadan, who is also a former director of SCOLE-Kerala, added that the state government cannot unilaterally withdraw from the agreement signed with the Centre. While this opinion reinforces the arguments put forward by the UDF government to move ahead with PM SHRI, former ministers K N Balagopal and P Rajeev came forward to oppose it.

P Rajeev responded that everything the LDF did is in the public domain and that the new controversy is merely aimed at saving face for the UDF government. Balagopal stated that the Central Government had made it clear in the Supreme Court that Kerala did not proceed with PM SHRI. CPM senior leader K K Shailaja also reacted, stating that the LDF government had committed no mistake.

Sivankutty’s stance also rejected

Ratheesh Kaliyadan also rejected the assertions made by former General Education minister V Sivankutty. Chief Minister V D Satheesan had earlier stated that the state would request the Centre for the freedom to select schools and implement the Kerala syllabus within the PM SHRI system. Ratheesh Kaliyadan dismissed the argument of former minister V Sivankutty, who had claimed that both of these options are already feasible under PM SHRI.

Kaliyadan pointed out that the curriculum, textbooks and evaluation methods prescribed by the National Education Policy and prepared by the NCERT will strictly have to be implemented in PM SHRI schools.

'Content distorted' 

Ratheesh Kaliyadan responded via a Facebook post, clarifying that the actual content of his article focused on the financial pressures that forced the signing of the agreement and the efforts made by the Pinarayi government to hold out without becoming part of the project. He alleged that certain portions were cherry-picked and circulated to portray it as an attack against the Pinarayi government.