Tamil Nadu govt sticks to its stand on resisting Hindi imposition, says will not implement NEP

School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi shared a screenshot of a 2016 social media post by late M Karunanidhi in which he opposed the NEP.

Chennai: Days after the Union Government told Parliament it has not released funds under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for the state, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday reiterated that it will not implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and resist “Hindi imposition” in every form. 

School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi shared a screenshot of a 2016 social media post by late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi in which he opposed the NEP and made his stance clear.

“It was on this day nine years ago, our leader Karunanidhi spoke about the danger of the NEP by imparting a lesson to the whole of India. We oppose the NEP and we won’t accept the policy,” Mahesh added. 

In a written response to Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Education said neither Tamil Nadu nor Kerala received any funds under the SS or PM-SHRI schemes in 2024–25. 

Mahesh has been maintaining that Tamil Nadu will never implement NEP even if it meant foregoing funds from the Centre. 

The state government has even approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to release funds under SSA.

Tamil Nadu, which has been following a two-language policy of Tamil and English since 1968, is opposed to the introduction of a third language which it sees as an indirect way of imposing Hindi.