Overview
- Education Minister N. Shamsudheen confirmed that a fresh letter from the Union education secretary asking Kerala to decide on PM SHRI was received by the chief secretary on September 11, 2026.
- The state says it will make no unilateral announcement and that Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan and the UDF leadership will hold consultations before declaring a course of action.
- Political divisions complicate the choice because the UDF opposed PM SHRI before and after the 2026 election and the previous LDF government had signed an MoU in October 2025 but kept implementation in abeyance after intra-front objections.
- Kerala officials say roughly Rs 2,000 crore in central transfers, including Samagra Shiksha funds, are being withheld and they have told the Centre that these funds should not be used to compel acceptance of PM SHRI.
- The government is weighing three paths—rejecting the scheme, accepting it with conditions, or seeking legal clarity on withdrawing from the MoU—and the decision will affect federal school funding tied to PM SHRI’s upgrade program for 14,500 schools and about 1.8 million students.