Cabinet subcommittee tasked with studying PM SHRI in Kerala yet to meet

According to General Education Minister V. Sivankutty’s reply in the Parliament, the seven-member Cabinet sub-committee constituted to examine the implementation of the Prime Minister’s SHRI (Prime Schools for Rising India) scheme in the state and submit a report did not meet even once.

The committee was announced in late October last year after the State government suspended the implementation of the scheme following opposition from the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Kerala signed the agreement for implementation of the Centrally sponsored scheme on October 23, 2025. The CPI, however, accused the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government of signing the scheme hastily and without transparency, ignoring the Prime Minister’s concerns over the National Education Policy that SHRI schools intended to showcase.

After the CPI remained firm in its opposition, the government froze implementation of the plan and announced that the subcommittee would review its implementation. The committee chaired by Mr. Sivankutty includes Revenue Minister K. Rajan, Agriculture Minister P. Prasad, Law Minister P. Rajeeve, Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty, Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine and Forest Minister AK Saseendran.

Mr. Sivankutty said that only after examining the sub-committee’s report can a decision be taken on further steps on implementation of PM SHRI in the State.

The Union government had made the signing of the agreement for implementation of PM SHRI in Kerala a pre-condition for the release of pending funds under Samagra Shiksha, another centrally sponsored scheme. Following the signing of the agreement, the State received the first installment of the Central share of Samagra Shiksha funds of ₹ 92.41 crore for 2025-26. However, Mr. Sivankutty’s reply in the Assembly said that funds for 2023-24 and 2024-25 are still pending.