Thrissur(Kerala) | Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Thursday welcomed the UDF government stand on the PM SHRI scheme, saying it would benefit the children and not the Congress or BJP administrations.

Gopi, the Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, said if there was any politics in connection with implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) it should be discussed and resolved by the LDF and UDF amongst themselves.

"The dispute over signing of the PM SHRI agreement should not affect the future of the children," he said.

He said that if Chief Minister V D Satheesan has taken a stand which benefits the children, then it is welcome.

Gopi said the scheme has been implemented in most of the states in the country and it has been signed by the Kerala government.

Satheesan had on Wednesday indicated that the UDF government would not be withdrawing from the Centre's PM SHRI scheme and would try to seek a conditional implementation of the initiative in a manner that would give the state the freedom to fix the curriculum.

He had also said the Cabinet decided to form a four-member sub-committee to study all aspects of the initiative.

Satheesan justified his administration's decision not to withdraw from the scheme by claiming that the previous LDF government had already inked an agreement with the Centre and received around Rs 99 crore in connection with the initiative.