Overview
- General Education Secretary K. Vasuki formally wrote to the Union Education Ministry on November 12 requesting that PM SHRI implementation in Kerala be put on hold until a cabinet subcommittee reports.
- Education Minister V. Sivankutty confirmed the communication and said the state sought the Advocate General’s opinion on legal implications before sending the letter.
- The cabinet had decided on October 29 to freeze the rollout, but the delay in notifying the Centre prompted CPI ministers K. Rajan and P. Prasad to press the Chief Minister to act.
- Kerala’s MoU to join PM SHRI was signed in New Delhi on October 22 without prior cabinet or LDF consultation, drawing objections from CPI leaders who cast the scheme as RSS-influenced and an encroachment on state powers.
- Kerala has received ₹92.41 crore as the first Samagra Shiksha instalment, and the effect of the pause on future central funding remains unclear despite recent talks with Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan.