By P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A determined attempt by the Opposition in Kerala to create a rift in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) on the PM SHRI scheme has failed.
The exercise, which came to grief, was to discredit the LDF Government and create a rift between the principal partners in the LDF, the CPI(M) and the CPI. The endeavour met with the same fate which befell many an earlier effort to destabilize the LDF Government.
A desperate Opposition – the Congress-led United Democratic Front(UDF) and the BJP – pounced on the Kerala Government’s signing of the PM SHRI scheme to secure an estimated Rs 1446 crore for the modernization of schools in the State to score political brownie points. .The opposition thought it had secured a potent weapon to discredit the LDF Government on the eve of the local bodies election due in December. But the exercise came to grief in the face of the stout defence made by the ruling front.
The Opposition was trying to capitalize on the CPI’s reservations over the decision to sign the PM SHRI. The CPI rightly felt that the scheme was intrinsically linked to the “anti-federal and reactionary” National Education Policy. The party felt that committing to the PM SHRI would amount to adherence to the NEP, which sought to saffronise and centralise education by negating cultural, ethical and linguistic diversities by prescribing a “one-size fits all” teaching template. According to CPI sources, the party’s ministers had conveyed their fears about registering for the PM SHRI scheme.
It may be mentioned that other States like Tamil Nadu andWest Bengal have refused to sign the scheme, voicing their skepticism about the Union Government’s attempt to tie the scheme to acceptance of the NEP.
The CPI was also unhappy that the Government signed without taking into confidence either the cabinet or the LDF coordination committee. The ‘hasty’ decision was in violation of the coalition ethics, CPI State secretary Binoy Viswom said, voicing the party’s displeasure over the signing of the scheme.
The CPI(M) promptly initiated a dialogue to allay the apprehensions expressed by the CPI. Kerala’s Education Minister V. Sivankutty called on Binoy Viswam to clarify matters, and said the cordial talks had helped to clear the air. Meanwhile, CPI(M) general secretary M. A. Baby called on his CPI counterpart D. Raja in Delhi. Raja said he and Baby have asked their respective units in Kerala to review the MoU and work out a middle path that does not compromise the Left’s national line on NEP.
Defending the decision, Sivankutt described it as a tactical move designed to overcome denial of school education funds to the State by the Union Government. Addressing presspersons, the Minister said that Kerala would continue its fight against the Union Government’s policies of implementing the Sangh Parivar agenda through education. However, he said the Government cannot afford to give up funds for Samagra Shiksha and other projects, especially when the State was facing severe financial constraints. He also pointed out that even when the State had received central funds in 2023, it had implemented schemes only in keeping with the State’s interests and education principles. There would be no change in that position, the Minister asserted.
Moreover, the Higher Education Department had signed up for the PM-USHA scheme on the condition that the NEP would be implemented. Yet the State government had implemented only its own vision on the recommendations of a higher education committee. Not even 30 per cent of the Central policy has been implemented, he claimed.
Also, the State had implemented the NEP provision such as those on pre-primary education, teacher empowerment, 100 per cent enrolment and three-language formula much before the year 2020. He vehemently denied that the signing of the scheme would result in communalizing the curriculum. The Minister underlined that it is the state which would finalise the curriculum. The NEP itself has as provision which says that the States would prepare the curriculum. And the States are not bound to implement in full the NEP without any changes.
The State CPI secretary has welcomed the Sivankutty’s statement that the LDF Government would not implement the NEP in full in Kerala. Nor would the state, the Minister averred, allow the Centre to inject science denial, distortion of history and Sangh Parivar brand of majoritarian nationalism that negates the country’s linguistic, religious, cultural and ethnic diversities into Kerala’s secular, democratic and progressive pedagogy.
There is also a Supreme Court judgment which says that the States are not bound to implement the NEDW in full. In a decision in May this year, the SC had stated that the States cannot be forced to implement the NEP. That verdict came while hearing a petition which sought a directive to Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala to implement the NEP. In its judgment in June, the Madras High Court had also made it clear that the release of central funds for education cannot be made conditional on implementation of the NEP.
The LDF has accused the Congress of indulging in hypocrisy of the worst kind by opposing the PM SHRI. The LDF said the Congress government in Rajasthan headed by Ashok Gehlot had implemented the NEP without any protest. So have Himachal Pradesh and Telangana which are ruled by the Congress. This being the reality, the Congress had no moral authority to ask the Kerala Government the NEP.
At the end of the day, it can safely be said that the efforts of the Opposition to extract political mileage out of the issue are bound to fail. The Kerala Government cannot be faulted for trying to secure central funds without compromising on its national line on NEP. No wonder, the opposition endeavour to create a rift between the CPI and the CPI(M) has lost steam. (IPA Service)
