Thiruvananthapuram | Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly, Pinarayi Vijayan, on Saturday accused the UDF government of making a complete U-turn on the PM SHRI scheme and questioned what "deal" had prompted the change in its stand.
Addressing a press conference here, the former chief minister said the previous LDF government was not willing to implement the central scheme as it did not want any changes in the state's education sector as part of it.
He alleged that the Congress-led UDF had strongly opposed the scheme while in the opposition and had accused the LDF of "entering into a deal" with the BJP over the issue.
"At that time, they said it was part of an LDF-BJP deal. Now, what deal is this a part of?" Vijayan asked.
He said the UDF maintained its opposition to the scheme until it assumed office, with some leaders even saying the project should be "thrown into the Arabian Sea".
However, after coming to power, the Chief Minister and the General Education Minister have begun defending its implementation, he alleged.
Vijayan also accused the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key UDF ally, of "changing its stand" overnight.
The CPI(M) veteran said the previous LDF government had signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the scheme but subsequently froze the process as a matter of policy and formally informed the Centre of its decision.
He said the then General Education Minister had personally conveyed the state's stand to the Union government and that the LDF government did not take any follow-up steps required for implementing the scheme.
Referring to a reply in Parliament to a question raised by a UDF MP regarding PM SHRI, Vijayan said the Centre had clarified that a state could withdraw from the scheme, with the only consequence being the loss of its benefits.
"This clearly shows there is no legal hurdle in withdrawing from the scheme," he said.
Alleging that the Centre was using the PM SHRI scheme to introduce a "saffron agenda" into the education sector, Vijayan said the UDF had quickly shifted to a position of supporting such an agenda.
The PM SHRI scheme was launched by the Centre to upgrade select government schools into model institutions.
The previous LDF government had signed an MoU with the Centre to implement the scheme, but later kept its rollout in abeyance following protests from the then opposition UDF and sections within the Left Democratic Front, including the CPI.
After assuming office, the UDF government under Satheesan, has formed a cabinet sub-committee to study the implementation of the central scheme and adopted a stand that further things would be decided based on its report.
