Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has asked the Union Education Ministry to suspend further proceedings on the implementation of the PM SHRI scheme in the state, officials said on Wednesday.

State General Education Secretary K Vasuki sent a letter to the ministry requesting the halt after obtaining the legal opinion of the Advocate General, a source said.

The move follows Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's earlier announcement that the LDF government had decided to put the scheme on hold amid objections from its ally, the CPI. A seven-member Cabinet sub-committee has been set up to study the scheme's implications.

The CPI had opposed the General Education Department's decision to sign an MoU with the Centre, claiming it would facilitate the “RSS agenda” in Kerala's education sector.

Welcoming the government's decision, CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam said the Left parties could not take any stance other than opposing the scheme's implementation.

Launched in 2020, the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme seeks to upgrade select schools to align with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, with Centre-State funding shared in a 60:40 ratio. The Union Cabinet approved the scheme in September 2022.