Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that CPI(M) Member of Parliament John Brittas acted as the link between the Central government and the Kerala government in matters related to the PM-SHRI scheme.
The Minister also congratulated Brittas for his role. Pradhan made this revelation during proceedings in the Upper House. He said that Kerala had signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre on the PM-SHRI scheme with complete consensus.
The State’s Education Minister had personally met him and conveyed Kerala’s willingness to join, the Union Minister added. “I do not know what happened thereafter,” Pradhan told the House, indicating that internal issues within the Kerala government led to the project being stalled.
He criticised the state government, saying that it was Kerala itself that created confusion regarding the scheme. Kerala’s initial and long-standing position was that it would not join the Centre’s PM-SHRI education scheme. This was a declared policy of the LDF government.
However, at the beginning of October, the Kerala government informed the Centre that it would join the PM-SHRI programme. But the second biggest ally in the CM Vijayan government CPI was up in arms and at one point in time threatened dire actions as the MoU was inked without the knowledge of even the constituent parties in the ruling front.
Strong objections soon emerged from parties, including the CPI. Following this, Kerala notified the Centre that it was withdrawing from the scheme. The state also sent a formal communication asking the Centre to halt all further procedures related to PM-SHRI.
It was after the Chief Minister himself clarified the matter in a cabinet meeting that the government sent the letter withdrawing from the project. Reports had earlier revealed that the state Education Department signed on to the scheme without any discussion or approval within the Left Front, the CPI(M), or even the cabinet.
This led to disagreements between the CPI and CPI(M). State Education Minister V. Sivankutty later argued that the department had signed the agreement only to secure the central financial assistance due to Kerala’s education sector, while asserting that the state would not implement the National Education Policy (NEP).
Reacting to Pradhan’s statement on the floor of the House, Brittas said that it’s not right to twist the statement of the Union Minister, as all such things are the prerogative of the state government, where he has nothing to do. “It’s true that for the needs of the state, he had accompanied Sivankutty on a few occasions, and that’s all and nothing else. Pradhan’s statement should not be twisted,” said Brittas.