Language panel urges CM to revoke Hindi move; Fadnavis says primacy to Marathi

Pune: The Maharashtra government’s language consultation committee has urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to revoke the decision of making Hindi a mandatory third language for students of classes 1 to 5.

Fadnavis on Sunday dismissed concerns over the "imposition" of the Hindi language in the state, asserting Marathi will continue to be compulsory.

The state government has given its nod to implement the three-language formula under the National Education Policy. Accordingly, it has made Hindi a must for students of classes 1 to 5 in English and Marathi-medium schools.

In a letter to the CM on Sunday, the language consultation committee’s chief Laxmikant Deshmukh claimed the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) did not consider their thoughts and suggestions before making the Hindi push.

While the government has appointed a language consultation committee to advise it on language matters, the SCERT has not taken the panel into consideration, the letter said.

“No language has been made compulsory in the National Education Policy. On the contrary, the NEP states that education should be imparted through the mother tongue. Therefore, making Hindi mandatory as a third language is not right,” the letter said.

Hindi should not be made mandatory at any stage of education. Instead, a policy should be adopted to use Hindi as little as possible, the letter said.

“It is not the language of employment, income, prestige or knowledge,” the letter said, urging the chief minister to revoke the decision concerning Hindi.

The opposition parties, particularly the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), have claimed Hindi is being imposed in Maharashtra.

Talking to reporters here, Fadnavis said, "It is wrong to say that attempts are being made to impose Hindi. Marathi will be compulsory in Maharashtra. There will be no other compulsion."

"We need to understand that Hindi has not been made mandatory instead of Marathi. The Marathi language is a must," he said.

Fadnavis said the New Education Policy states that two of the three languages to be taught to students must be Indian languages.

"The New Education Policy has provided an opportunity to learn three languages. It is important to learn languages. The rule states that two of these three languages must be Indian. Marathi is already being made compulsory. You cannot take any other language, except Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam or Gujarati," the chief minister said.

He said teachers are available for the Hindi language as per recommendations. "In case of other (regional) languages, teachers are not available," he added.

Fadnavis questioned the people's perception of Indian languages and English.

"I am surprised by one thing. We oppose Indian languages like Hindi but we praise English. Why do many people feel that English is closer to them and Indian languages are farther? We should also think about this," he said.