Overview
- The Education Ministry, which disclosed Wednesday it will send letters to both chief secretaries, is urging quick MoU sign-offs to start the PM SHRI scheme in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
- Officials tie the renewed outreach to fresh assembly results that changed state leadership, with a smoother path expected in Bengal and uncertainty in Tamil Nadu under C. Joseph Vijay’s TVK.
- Kerala signed an MoU in October 2025 but froze implementation after CPI objections, and the Centre wants the incoming government to move the agreement forward.
- PM SHRI aims to upgrade about 14,500 schools as model campuses aligned with the National Education Policy 2020, and states must sign an MoU to access linked support.
- The Centre had paused or withheld Samagra Shiksha grants to holdout states in 2024–25, a fund normally split 60:40 with states, and it will also urge West Bengal to adopt the ULLAS adult learning scheme while preparing a school mental health policy likely due in early June.