3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: May 6, 2026 04:52 PM IST
Amid the changes of guard in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala after the Assembly poll results, the Ministry of Education is preparing a fresh push to implement the Centre’s flagship PM Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) scheme in these states.
A senior ministry official said that letters will soon be sent to the chief secretaries of the three states, requesting them to formally adopt the scheme. PM-SHRI aims to upgrade existing schools into “exemplar” institutions that showcase the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Although PM-SHRI was approved in 2022, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala remain the only states yet to implement the scheme. The Education Ministry has linked the release of Samagra Shiksha funds to support the implementation of the Right to Education Act to the adoption of PM-SHRI.
As a result, these states have seen their central funding for school education withheld or only partially released since the 2023-24 fiscal year. Samagra Shiksha is typically funded through a 60:40 split between the Centre and the states.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu opposed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) because it requires states to implement the NEP “in its entirety.” West Bengal objected to the ‘PM-SHRI’ prefix being applied to schools where the state government bears 40 per cent of the cost.
In Bengal, the transition from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to a BJP-led administration is expected to remove the hurdles that previously stalled the scheme. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the shift away from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF), respectively, may end resistance to the scheme. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led governments are set to come to power in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, respectively.
Kerala MoU
While Kerala finally signed an MoU with the Centre for PM-SHRI in October 2025, the state put its implementation on hold after the Communist Party of India (CPI), an alliance partner in the LDF, objected to the agreement.
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Kerala then set up a Cabinet sub-committee to examine the matter. Then Opposition Leader V D Satheesan of the Congress slammed the LDF government’s decision to sign the MoU, alleging a “link” between the ruling CPI(M) and the BJP.
Ironically, other Congress-ruled states like Karnataka and Telangana have, however, implemented PM-SHRI. Similarly, Aam Aadmi Party-led governments in Punjab and Delhi relented in 2024 after the Centre withheld their respective Samagra Shiksha grants.
The education ministry official said that Kerala was requested to attend a project approval board meeting for the scheme after the MoU was signed, but this did not take place.
