Six states, UTs yet to sign MoU for PM-SHRI schools; Punjab has proposed to withdraw

Union Minister of Education for State Annapurna Devi said that there is a provision to set up more than 14,500 PM-SHRI schools by strengthening the existing schools from among those managed by the central, state and Union Territory governments and local bodies.

New Delhi: Six states and Union Territories have not signed an MoU with the Centre for the PM-SHRI school scheme while one state has proposed to withdraw from the MoU originally signed, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.

So far, 29 states and Union Territories (UTs) along with the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Bihar, Delhi, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have not signed the MoU while Punjab has proposed to withdraw.

Union Minister of Education for State Annapurna Devi shared the information in a written response to queries from BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal on the number of applications received from various states for the upgrade of schools and if some state governments had not signed the MoU with the Union government for the scheme's implementation.

"The Union Cabinet approved a new centrally-sponsored scheme named Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) in September 2022. These schools are to showcase the implementation of the National Education Policy, 2020, and emerge as exemplar schools over a period of time, and also offer leadership to other schools in the neighbourhood," Devi said.

The minister said there is a provision to set up more than 14,500 PM-SHRI schools by strengthening the existing schools from among those managed by the central, state and Union Territory governments and local bodies.

"29 states and UTs along with KVS/NVS have signed the MoU; six states/UTs namely Bihar, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have not signed the MoU with the Government of India yet, whereas Punjab has proposed to withdraw from the MoU that was originally signed," Devi said.

"These state governments have been requested multiple times to come on board to avail PM-SHRI scheme for the benefit of the people, through various communications from this ministry," she added.