Fraternity Movement gears up for protests; urges govt not to sign PM SHRI scheme
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Kozhikode: The leaders of the Fraternity Movement alleged at a press conference that the state education department’s decision to join the Central Government’s PM SHRI education scheme amounts to endorsing the BJP’s agenda of communalising educational institutions.
They said the organisation would launch statewide protests against both the Central Government’s policies that undermine federalism by withholding funds due to the states and the Kerala Government’s move to sign on to the PM SHRI scheme.
As part of the protest, a march to the state committee secretariat will be held on Saturday, October 25, in the morning.
The move to sign the PM SHRI agreement, the Fraternity Movement leaders said, is also a violation of the assurance earlier given by the education minister to student organisations.
According to the scheme, the first step to receiving funds is signing an MoU agreeing to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) introduced by the BJP government.
The leaders pointed out that the central government has even withheld funds due under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan from states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala — all of which have refused to implement the new policy aimed at “Hindutvaising” the education sector.
They alleged that the BJP has been consistently trying to bring education under its sole control.
The Fraternity leaders argued that the state government should resist the Centre’s coercion — both legally and politically — instead of yielding to its threat that other educational funds will be withheld if the PM SHRI agreement is not signed.
They dismissed the education minister’s remark questioning why ₹1,466 crore meant for children should be “wasted” by not signing the agreement as politically misleading.
Allowing over 300 schools in Kerala to become “political laboratories” of the central government would have far-reaching consequences for the state’s education system, the leaders warned.
They urged the education department to stay away from arrangements that hand over control of education to the Sangh Parivar through the PM SHRI scheme and instead take legal action against the withholding of funds due to the state.
Fraternity Movement state president Naeem Gafoor, state vice president K.M. Sabir Ahsan, and state secretary Muneeb Elankamal addressed the press conference.