NEW DELHI: The BJP-led government in West Bengal has agreed to implement the PM SHRI (Schools for Rising India) initiative of the Education Department. An MoU in this regard was signed on Friday evening at Kartavya Bhavan between senior officials of the state and the Centre.
The Centre had recently written to the state to come on board and had also written to the new governments in Tamil Nadu and Kerala to implement the initiative, a senior official said.
A total of 14,500 model schools are planned across the country under the initiative. The PM SHRI Schools are aligned with the vision of NEP 2020 and focus on transforming existing schools into model institutions of excellence, according to an official release.
“These schools will serve as exemplary schools, guiding and supporting other nearby schools to enhance learning outcomes, innovation and holistic education,” it said.
The MoU to implement the PM SHRI Schools initiative across West Bengal was signed between Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL) Secretary Sanjay Kumar, West Bengal Additional Chief Secretary Binod Kumar and the state’s Additional Secretary Dheeraj Sahu.
Speaking to TNIE, DoSEL Secretary Sanjay Kumar said, “After receiving consent from the government, we had on May 8 written to the governments in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to adopt the PM Shri initiative. Kerala had already signed an MoU with us last year and we have asked them to implement what had been agreed upon. We have asked the government in Tamil Nadu to adopt the Scheme.”
Kerala had signed the MoU on October 23, 2025, but put the rollout on hold a few days later following strong objections from the CPI, a key ally in the then ruling Left Democratic Front. On November 12, 2025, it wrote to the Centre stating that it was keeping the MoU in abeyance.
Tamil Nadu had given an undertaking to introduce the scheme for the 2024-25 academic session but did not proceed with the process.
The Education Department has written more than 10 times to each of these states to adopt the scheme. A total of 33 states and Union Territories have so far signed MoUs to implement the PM SHRI initiative.