Several letters were sent to the Tamil Nadu government in the last two years, urging it to sign an MoU for implementing the PM SHRI school scheme in the state, Ministry of Education sources said on Monday.The ministry sources shared the information a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin accused Centre of resorting to “open blackmail” by snatching away Rs 2,152 crore meant for the state and giving it to other states.
“We have written several reminders to them (Tamil Nadu government) in the last two years. Last year, they had initially agreed to sign an MoU but there has been no progress yet,” a source said.
There was, however, no response to the allegation of diversion of funds to other states.
The Union BJP government’s unjust attitude against Tamil Nadu knows no bounds! For rejecting the imposition of NEP2020 and the three-language policy, they resorted to open blackmail, snatching away Rs 2,152 crore meant for Tamil Nadu’s students and now they have handed it over to other states.
“This is nothing short of coercion, punishing our students for standing up for their rights,” Stalin said in a post on X on Sunday.
“No government in India’s history has been so ruthless to strangle access to education for political revenge against a state. The BJP has once again proven itself to be the face of injustice and hatred towards Tamil Nadu and its people,” he further alleged.
The PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme targets to upgrade 14,500 schools and is expected to benefit 1.8 million students. It also aims to ensure these schools serve as model institutes and encapsulate the spirit of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The government has already selected 6,448 schools from 28 states and Union territories for upgrade in the first round.
Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Delhi are the only states which have not signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Education yet for having such schools.