During the transitions in leadership across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala following the Assembly election outcomes, the Ministry of Education is gearing up for a renewed effort to roll out the Centre’s flagship PM Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) initiative in these regions.
A senior ministry representative stated that communications will shortly be dispatched to the chief secretaries of the three states, urging them to officially adopt the programme. PM-SHRI seeks to modernise existing schools into “model” institutions that demonstrate the execution of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Although PM-SHRI received approval in 2022, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala continue to be the only states that have not yet introduced the initiative. The Education Ministry has tied the disbursal of Samagra Shiksha funds meant to aid implementation of the Right to Education Act to the adoption of PM-SHRI.
Consequently, these states have had their central allocations for school education withheld or only partly disbursed since the 2023-24 financial year. Samagra Shiksha is generally financed through a 60:40 sharing arrangement between the Centre and the states.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu resisted the memorandum of understanding (MoU) as it obliges states to implement the NEP “completely.” West Bengal raised objections to the ‘PM-SHRI’ tag being attached to schools where the state administration contributes 40 per cent of the expenditure.
In Bengal, the shift from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to a BJP-led government is anticipated to eliminate the barriers that had earlier delayed the initiative. Likewise, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the departure of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF), respectively, could bring an end to opposition against the scheme. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-headed governments are expected to assume power in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, respectively.
Kerala MoU
While Kerala eventually signed an MoU with the Centre for PM-SHRI in October 2025, the state paused its execution after the Communist Party of India (CPI), a coalition ally within the LDF, objected to the agreement.
Kerala subsequently constituted a Cabinet sub-committee to review the issue. Then Opposition Leader V D Satheesan of the Congress criticised the LDF government’s move to sign the MoU, alleging a “connection” between the ruling CPI(M) and the BJP.
Ironically, other Congress-governed states such as Karnataka and Telangana have nevertheless implemented PM-SHRI. Likewise, Aam Aadmi Party-led administrations in Punjab and Delhi gave in during 2024 after the Centre withheld their respective Samagra Shiksha allocations.
The education ministry representative stated that Kerala had been invited to participate in a project approval board meeting for the initiative after the MoU was signed, but this ultimately did not occur.