PM SHRI rollout put on hold, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan constitutes Cabinet subcommittee to examine CPI’s concerns

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday announced a seven-member Cabinet subcommittee to study CPI’s concerns precipitated by the administration signing on to what the key ruling front ally publicly denounced as the “reactionary” National Education Policy-linked PM SHRI scheme, which the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government had set as an obligatory condition for releasing statutory federal grants estimated at ₹1,446 crore for school education.

Mr. Vijayan said the government had frozen further procedures concerning the scheme until the subcommittee submitted its report to the government. He said the State would inform the Central government of its decision.

Mr. Vijayan told a press conference that General Education Minister V. Sivankutty would chair the committee. He also sought to take the edge off the CPI’s criticism that the administration had failed to consult the Cabinet or the Left Democratic Front (LDF) by including Ministers from different parties on the subcommittee. 

They include Revenue Minister K. Rajan (CPI), Agriculture Minister P. Prasad (CPI), Finance Minister P. Rajeeve (CPI-M), Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty (Janata Dal-Secular), Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine (Kerala Congress-M) and Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran (Nationalist Congress Party).

Mr. Vijayan hinted that the government would defer any call on PM SHRI till after the local body polls. “We will all be busy in the coming months,” he stated.

Mr. Vijayan refused to take any further questions on CPI’s strident criticism of the administration’s “covert” agreement with the Centre for PM SHRI funds, which it said compromised the Left’s national line against “RSS-inspired”  NEP that sought to “communalise, centralise and commercialise” education.

“The matter has ended. It has been debated threadbare in the public domain. Now, there is no rationale in pursuing the matter further,” Mr. Vijayan said. 

Asked whether the CPI(M) capitulated to the CPI by forsaking sizeable federal grants for school education, Mr. Vijayan said the people were aware of the LDF’s credibility and no amount of tarnishing would rob the ruling front of its sheen.

CPI State secretary Binoy Viswam refused to portray the Cabinet decision as his party’s victory. “The CPI does not view the situation through the narrow prism of victory or non-victory. The CPI(M) and CPI played a historic role in yet again authoring the victory of Left politics and ideology,” he said.

A flurry of political activity, including top-level party consultations and a closed-door one-to-one meeting between Mr. Vijayan and Mr. Viswam in the run-up to Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting preceded the CPI’s detente with the CPI(M) over the PM SHRI controversy.

Soon after, Mr. Viswam said CPI Ministers, who had threatened to abstain from the Cabinet after feeling shut out from the crucial “policy reversal” on the NEP and PM SHRI, attended the meeting, signalling bonhomie in the LDF.