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Thiruvananthapuram, October 22 (IANS) CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam on Wednesday reiterated that the National Education Policy (NEP) will not be implemented in Kerala.
CPI is the second largest ally in the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Front government in Kerala.
He also warned that accepting funds under the PM SHRI scheme would force the state to effectively implement the NEP.
Describing the PM as a “backdoor way” to implement NEP, Viswam said the fund and policy are “closely linked”.
He said that CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby has already clarified the party’s position.
Viswam’s statement came as a sharp reaction to CPI(M) MLA and State Education Minister V. Sivankutty’s earlier announcement that the state would go ahead with the PM SHRI scheme.
Viswam spoke to the media soon after calling four CPI cabinet ministers from the state at his home and holding discussions with them ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting.
At the cabinet meeting, CPI ministers raised the issue of PM Sri, and it is reliably learned that neither Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan nor Sivankutty talked about it.
The CPI has also expressed displeasure over the unilateral decision of the CPI(M) without proper consultation within the Left Democratic Front to declare that they will move forward with PM Shri.
Adding a new dimension to the debate, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said “there is nothing wrong in accepting central funds”, but he warned against allowing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s “communal agenda” to take root through such schemes.
“This money does not come from the Prime Minister’s house”, and said that the PM SHRI scheme was already implemented in states ruled by the Indian National Congress, but this was before the party came to power there. We all heard the terse response of CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan when he asked, ‘Who is this CPI?’. It is a shame that a party like CPI is being humiliated by CPI(M), and now it is time that they come out of LDF,” Satheesan said.
–IANS
SG/DPB