Thiruvananthapuram:Aloysius Xavier, the State President of the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student wing of the Congress party, has issued a strong warning against the implementation of the central government’s PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme in Kerala, vowing fierce resistance to what he terms the “saffronisation” of the student sector.
In a fiery statement, Xavier declared that if any school in the state attempts to put up a PM SHRI board, the KSU will tear it down. He stated unequivocally: “If any PM SHRI board is placed in front of any school, we will uproot it. We will not surrender the student sector to saffronisation.”
Xavier’s statement comes in the wake of the Kerala government’s decision to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union government to implement the PM SHRI scheme, a move that has drawn widespread criticism from opposition parties and student organizations.
The KSU chief has been an outspoken critic of the scheme, which aims to upgrade existing schools to serve as model institutions for implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Opponents argue that the NEP is part of the Union government’s push to centralise control over education and impose a Hindutva-oriented ideological agenda.
He had earlier condemned the ruling LDF government’s decision to sign the MoU, which he called a “grave betrayal,” alleging that it demonstrated underlying connections between the CPM (CPI-M) and the BJP. Xavier warned that the state government would be solely responsible if the scheme led to a future where figures like Nathuram Vinayak Godse or Golwalkar were included in college syllabi as Indian freedom fighters.
The KSU’s aggressive stance signals that the implementation of the PM SHRI scheme is set to become a new flashpoint for political and student agitation across Kerala.
