Panneerselvam calls for making public the recommendation of a panel on PM SHRI scheme

ADMK leaders criticize DMK government over education policies, student exploitation, and lack of representation in GST Council.

The ADMK Workers’ Rights’ Retrieval Committee coordinator, O. Panneerselvam, on Tuesday called upon the DMK government to  make public the recommendation of a panel headed by the School Education Secretary on the  PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme and convey to the Central government its position on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

In  a statement, Mr Panneerselvam  called former Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena’s letter in March this year to the Union government wherein the former had expressed the State government’s keenness in participating in the PM SHRI scheme. He wondered whether this letter was sent with a view to “deceiving” the Centre, just as the State government had been “doing with regard to people of the State,” only for the purpose of securing funds or to sacrificing the State’s stand on the issues of language policy, State autonomy, social justice and equality. 

In  a post on his social media handle, the AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran pulled up the DMK regime  over reports that hostel inmate-students in the Sivaganga district were made to clean a public ground for enabling the conduct of an event concerning Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin. This had created a “huge dissatisfaction” among educationists that even officials of the State government had “violated” an order of their government that the students should not be used for any work unrelated to their studies. 

Meanwhile, the AIADMK’s organisation secretary, D. Jayakumar, asked why the State Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu did not participate in the GST Council’s meeting, contrary to the practice. He wondered whether it was because of the State government’s “fear” to raise issues concerning the State’s interests before the BJP or being unaware of what it wanted to ask for.