The Communist Party of India (CPI) has dug its heels in on the position that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala should, ideally, “review or withdraw” the controversial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed with the Central government to release PM Schools for Rising India-linked (PM SHRI) federal funding for school education.
CPI general secretary D. Raja, who called on his Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] counterpart M.A. Baby in Delhi, said the Central-State accord on PM SHRI funding implied an acceptance of the National Education Policy (NEP). He also criticised the government’s decision to sign the agreement without consulting allies or the Cabinet and in “unnecessary haste.”
“The CPI(M) and the CPI have stridently opposed the NEP, given that it promotes the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) agenda. The NEP is a byword for commercialisation, communalisation and centralisation of education,” he said.
Mr. Raja said he and Mr. Baby have asked their respective party units in Kerala to review the MoU and work out a middle path that does not compromise the left’s national line on the NEP. “Withdrawing the MoU is a valid option,” he reiterated.
Mr. Baby said the CPI(M) concurred with the CPI’s position on NEP.
However, Kerala, he stated, was constrained to sign the PM SHRI, which is set to expire in 2027, because the Centre had unjustly set it as a precondition for the release of statutory Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) funds owed to the State.
Mr. Baby said Kerala had already achieved what PM SHRI envisaged. “We have smart classrooms and state-of-the-art government school infrastructure. However, Kerala needs the 60% federal allocation owed to States to maintain the momentum. Signing the MoU for funds did not entail that the LDF would accept the NEP agenda,” he said.
Mr. Baby said the centralisation of education was the Congress’s legacy. “The Indira Gandhi government opened the door for the Centre to infringe on the jurisdiction of States over education by including it in the Concurrent List during the Emergency. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) capitalised on this flawed decision,” he said.
Mr. Baby said Kerala had signed on to the Centre’s allocations for higher education and agriculture sectors without implementing any of the prescribed conditions.
“Kerala resisted NCERT’s attempt to blot out the Gandhi Assassination and the Mughal reign from the curriculum by including the deleted portions in history textbooks. It will follow the same track in the PM SHRI scheme,” he added.
Published – October 25, 2025 07:09 pm IST
