The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) made a conciliatory gesture to the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Saturday. This comes after the CPI publicly criticized the government for what it called the “whimsical” signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central government. This agreement aimed to secure federal allocation for the PM-SHRI school education scheme without prior consultation with either the cabinet or the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF).
General Education Minister V. Sivankutty, the official who authorized this contentious Central-State accord, visited CPI State Secretary Binoy Viswam at the party’s headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram to address the concerns. He later informed reporters that the discussions were productive and helped clarify the situation.
The controversy began on Wednesday when CPI State Secretary Binoy Viswam ignited a period of strained coalition relations. He openly chastised the government for “surreptitiously” endorsing the agreement, which he argued undermined the Left’s national resistance to what he described as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) covert efforts to infuse Hindutva ideology into schooling.
Mr. Viswam asserted that Kerala had succumbed to the Centre’s offer, which linked the release of PM-SHRI funds to compliance with the “RSS-inspired” New Education Policy (NEP).
He promptly sent a protest letter to LDF convenor T.P. Ramakrishnan and other allied parties, expressing the CPI’s deep distress over this “breach of coalition etiquette and the cabinet’s collective responsibility.”
CPI(M)’s Perspective
Speaking to reporters in Palakkad, former Law Minister and CPI(M) leader explained that the cabinet had previously signed similar MoUs to secure federal grants in the Health, Agriculture, and Higher Education sectors, all with the CPI’s consent.
He acknowledged that a degree of flexibility is often necessary in Central-State relations. Kerala, he pointed out, accepted Central funding for Health, Higher Education, and Agriculture without agreeing to any conditions that the State believed would advance the RSS agenda or compromise federalism.
For instance, Mr. Balan recalled, the Central government had insisted that State hospitals funded by federal grants display the Prime Minister’s image and the Central government’s emblem. “We agreed to display the Central government symbol but not the Prime Minister’s photograph, and we still received the funds,” he clarified.
Countering Saffronization Efforts
Similarly, Mr. Balan noted that Kerala effectively thwarted NCERT’s attempt to saffronize education by reinstating chapters on the Gandhi Assassination and Mughal rule that had been removed from history textbooks. “Kerala published new textbooks, which preserved the deleted chapters,” he added.
Mr. Balan affirmed that Mr. Sivankutty had followed the cabinet’s established approach of securing federal funding without compromising the LDF’s core political and ideological principles.
“Mr. Sivankutty acted in the best interests of 40 lakh students in the State,” he stated. “Kerala requires the substantial federal allocation, an estimated ₹1,446 crores, for modernizing classrooms, providing lump sum grants to needy students, paying over 7,000 teachers, and acquiring the latest learning tools, including computers and state-of-the-art laboratories.”
Mr. Balan concluded by stating that the MoU was not the final word within the LDF. “The LDF will thoroughly discuss the matter, address the concerns of its allies, and reach a consensus before proceeding,” he assured.