Kerala PM SHRI row: IUML's Kunhalikutty contradicts UDF convener, says no decision taken yet

Thiruvananthapuram: Senior IUML leader and Kerala Minister P K Kunhalikutty on Friday contradicted UDF Convener Adoor Prakash's claim that the ruling front had decided to proceed with the Centre's PM SHRI scheme, saying the issue was not discussed at the bloc' recent meeting. The government would take a decision only after a cabinet subcommittee submits its report, he told reporters here.

Rejecting media reports of differences between the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) over the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme, Kunhalikutty, state minister for Industries, Commerce, IT and AI said there was no discussion on the matter at Thursday's UDF meeting.

PM SHRI decision awaits panel report

"The UDF meeting did not discuss the PM SHRI issue. A cabinet subcommittee is examining the matter. Both the government and the UDF will respond after the panel submits its report," he said. He said the previous Left government had signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre after stating in the Assembly that it was necessary to secure funds due to the state.

"It was the LDF government that signed the agreement. Whether the state can withdraw from it can be decided only after the subcommittee submits its report," he said. Kunhalikutty, however, asserted that Kerala would not accept any conditions imposed by the Centre regarding the school curriculum or the selection of institutions under the scheme. "Under no circumstances will Kerala implement the Centre's conditions relating to the curriculum or the selection of schools. If such a situation arises, we will decide then," he said.

Dismissing reports suggesting that the UDF had taken a decision on the issue, Kunhalikutty said they were "completely baseless". He also said Prakash had merely responded to a question from reporters in his own way and that the UDF had not formally discussed the issue.

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Adoor Prakash retracts earlier remarks

Kunhalikutty's remarks came a day after Prakash said the UDF had concluded that the state could not withdraw from implementing the PM SHRI scheme as the previous LDF government had already signed the agreement with the Centre.

Meanwhile, Prakash retracted his earlier statement that Kerala would move forward with the PM SHRI scheme. Speaking to reporters in Pathanamthitta, he said he had never stated that the government would go ahead with the PM SHRI scheme and that further action would be decided based on the report of the cabinet-appointed subcommittee.

His clarification came soon after Kunhalikutty publicly contradicted him on the issue. "The next course of action will be based on the subcommittee's report. The state has differences of opinion with the Centre on certain matters, and the PM SHRI scheme is one of them," he said. Decisions regarding the PM SHRI scheme will be taken on the basis of the subcommittee's report, he said, adding that the UDF meeting did not hold any separate discussion on the PM SHRI scheme.

"There was no dispute over the issue. I never said that we would move forward with the PM SHRI scheme," Prakash said. IUML leader and Local Self Government Department Minister K M Shaji also said it would be meaningful to comment further on the PM SHRI scheme only after the cabinet subcommittee constituted to examine the issue submits its decision. Responding to a question, he said the Muslim League faced no confusion or crisis over the issue. He also said it was a fact that the previous LDF government had signed the agreement related to the scheme and maintained that the League's stand on the matter had been consistent and clear.

CPI(M) attacks UDF over scheme

However, senior CPI(M) leader and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the UDF government's stand reflected its "surrender to the Sangh Parivar's saffronisation agenda". In a Facebook post, he said the UDF's decision to implement the PM SHRI scheme, after abandoning the stand it had taken while in the Opposition, amounted to a "grave betrayal of secular Kerala".

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Vijayan claimed that Chief Minister V D Satheesan's argument that the state could not withdraw from the scheme was not supported by facts and that the latest parliamentary records proved otherwise. He said the Union government had clearly informed the Rajya Sabha, in reply to a question by IUML MP P V Abdul Wahab, that states were free to withdraw from the PM SHRI scheme at any time and that only the scheme-related financial assistance would be forfeited.

He further said that in response to another question raised by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jebi Mather, the Centre had stated that the PM SHRI scheme had neither been implemented in Kerala nor had the state received any funds from the Centre under it. Vijayan alleged that the UDF's eagerness to implement the scheme despite there being no legal compulsion was aimed only at appeasing the Sangh Parivar.

He further claimed that the UDF was now compromising Kerala's public education sector, which, according to him, had been protected by the LDF government over the past 10 years from the RSS's "communal syllabus". He called upon the people of Kerala to expose what he termed the UDF's "betrayal".

Senior CPI(M) leader and former General Education Minister V Sivankutty also accused the UDF of political double standards over the PM SHRI scheme. Addressing a press conference here, he alleged that the UDF had abandoned all the objections it had raised while in the Opposition and was now facilitating the implementation of the Sangh Parivar's agenda for political convenience.

PM SHRI row continues in Kerala

Sivankutty said the UDF leadership should clarify whether its earlier allegations that the PM SHRI scheme reflected a "secret understanding" with the BJP were false, or whether the Congress had now entered into such an understanding after coming to power. The PM SHRI scheme was launched by the Centre to upgrade selected government schools into model institutions. The previous LDF government had signed an MoU with the Centre to implement the scheme, but later kept its rollout in abeyance following protests from the then Opposition UDF and sections within the Left Democratic Front, including the CPI.