Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 25 (IANS) KPCC president Sunny Joseph said on Saturday that the Pinarayi Vijayan government is turning Kerala’s schools into laboratories for implementing the Centre’s “saffronisation experiment” through participation in the PM SHRI scheme.

He said the inclusion of schools under the PM SHRI project is the result of a “secret understanding” between the CPI(M) and the BJP.

“It is a serious lapse that even Left Front ministers and CPI(M) ministers came to know about the MoU only through the media. This shows there is no collective responsibility in the Cabinet,” he said, adding that the state joined the scheme secretly to protect Vijayan’s personal interests over Kerala’s.

Joseph demanded that the Chief Minister clarify why the Cabinet’s earlier decision to pursue legal action against the Centre’s unilateral move to impose PM SHRI was reversed.

“The government, which had strongly opposed the scheme from the start, hastily joined it soon after the Chief Minister met the Prime Minister on the 10th of this month. The people of Kerala have the right to know what deal was struck between them,” he said.

He further alleged that the state government’s reluctance to legally challenge the Centre’s stance stemmed from its fear of the BJP.

“Just as the Centre implemented the National Education Policy (NEP) without parliamentary debate, the PM SHRI MoU was signed, keeping both the Cabinet and LDF allies in the dark. By doing so, the Pinarayi government has effectively accepted the NEP,” he said.

Joseph said this surrender would undermine Kerala’s democratic, secular, and pluralistic educational traditions, yielding instead to a religiously driven, centralised, saffronised policy framework.

According to the agreement, Kerala will have to implement all provisions of the 2020 NEP under PM SHRI.

“Once signed, only the Centre can withdraw from it. By 2027, even if no further funds are provided, all PM SHRI schools will come under the Union government’s control,” added Joseph.

He demanded that CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby and the Chief Minister explain the party’s change of stance on the NEP, which it had earlier condemned as unconstitutional and communal.

“By accepting funds tied to the NEP, the Vijayan government has bartered away the future of Kerala’s children for a handful of silver,” he added.

–IANS

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