Maharashtra rolls back order making Hindi compulsory third language in schools
The Maharashtra government has stayed its April 16 order that made Hindi a compulsory third language for students in Class 1 to Class 5 in Marathi and English medium schools, PTI quoted state School Education Minister Dada Bhuse as saying on Tuesday.
While the three-language policy would still take effect, students would not be required to study Hindi as their third language, The Indian Express quoted Bhuse as saying.
The three-language formula refers to teaching students English, Hindi and the native language of a state. It was introduced in the first National Education Policy in 1968 and was retained in the new policy introduced in 2020.
On April 16, the state government announced a plan to implement the 2020 National Education Policy from the academic year 2025-'26.
The plan made it compulsory for students in Class 1 to Class 5 in Marathi and English medium schools to learn Hindi as the third language. The policy's three-language formula would have replaced the two-language structure in these schools.
The phased implementation of the plan was to begin with Class 1 in 2025-'26 and cover all classes by 2028-'29.
Opposition to NEP
The 2020 National Education Policy proposes major changes to the curricular structure for school education. It claims to promote flexibility in choosing academic streams and emphasises on using the mother tongue as a key medium of instruction in primary schools, among other measures.
The policy has been criticised for encouraging the privatisation of public institutions and creating several 'exit' options for students, which opponents say could encourage dropouts.
Tamil Nadu has repeatedly opposed the three-language formula in the National Education Policy. The state government said it would not change its decades-old two-language policy of teaching students Tamil and English.
'Insult to Marathi language'
On Sunday, a language consultation committee appointed by the Maharashtra government opposed the order.
Laxmikant Deshmukh, chairperson of the committee, had said in a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that primary school students should be taught in their mother tongue and that the three-language policy should be implemented only at the higher secondary level.
Deshmukh also noted that the quality of Marathi and English language instruction was poor as most schools had only one or two teachers. 'Introducing a third language will increase the burden of the teachers and in the process the possibility of learning one language properly will decrease,' the letter said.
The committee also said that many language scholars and linguists believed few states had suffered as much 'linguistic and cultural damage' from Hindi as Maharashtra.
'If the people of North India do not learn Marathi as a third language, despite the linguistic similarity and are not ready to speak Marathi even in Maharashtra as a migrant, then it is an insult to the Marathi language and its speakers to make Hindi mandatory by the government,' said Deshmukh.
He added: 'If we don't want Maharashtra to suffer more in the linguistic and cultural field, the government should reconsider and cancel the decision to make Hindi language compulsory.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
25 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Tech snag hits Air India's SF-Mumbai flight; passengers deplaned in Kolkata
Passengers of an Air India flight from San Francisco to Mumbai were deplaned at Kolkata airport early on Tuesday after one of the engines developed a technical snag. The halt was scheduled. According to a PTI report: 'Flight AI180 arrived on time at 0045 hrs at the airport, but the technical snag in the left engine resulted in the take-off getting delayed. At about 0520 hrs, an announcement was made in the aircraft asking all the passengers to deplane. The decision was made in the interest of flight safety,' the captain of the plane told the passengers. This comes a day after an Air India Express flight from Delhi to Ranchi was diverted back to the national capital shortly after taking off on Monday due to a suspected technical issue. In a separate incident on Monday, an Air India flight bound for Delhi returned to Hong Kong International Airport after the pilot found a technical glitch in the aircraft. The pilots told Hong Kong's Air Traffic Control that they did not wish to continue further, adding: 'Due to technical reasons, we would like to stay closer to Hong Kong. Maybe we will come back and land in Hong Kong once we sort out the problem. We do not want to continue further.' It is worth noting that the flight was delayed by over three hours and returned to Hong Kong nearly an hour after take-off. Following the incident, Air India issued a statement. It said: 'AI315 operating from Hong Kong to Delhi on 16 June 2025, air-returned to Hong Kong shortly after take-off due to a technical issue. The flight landed safely at Hong Kong and is undergoing checks as a matter of abundant precaution.' It further informed the passengers that arrangements were being made for alternate travel options. 'Alternative arrangements have been planned to fly the passengers to their destination, Delhi, at the earliest. We are providing all necessary on-ground assistance to the passengers to minimise the inconvenience caused by this unforeseen disruption.' These incidents come a few days after the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed the lives of 241 people on board, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Influence waning, Maoists told cadres before crackdown: ‘Weak, need to retreat'
Months before security forces moved in to flush out Maoists from their forest strongholds, the politburo of the banned CPI (Maoist), its highest decision-making body, informed the cadres 'we are retreating forces from Dandakaranya', the vast swathe of land they once controlled across states in the heart of the country. The politburo decision, which stemmed from the realisation of their waning appeal among people, was conveyed through a secret circular issued in August 2024. The circular, in essence, readied the underground cadre of the outfit to prepare for the worst which was to come, as the security forces closed in on them. Hunted by security forces as part of Operation Kagar, the CPI (Maoist) attributed the erosion of support to 'postmodernism, Ambedkarism and NGOs'. At the time the circular was issued, the politburo had Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, the CPI (Maoist) general secretary, at its helm and three others including Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu, Thippiri Thirupathi alias Devuji and Misir Besra alias Sagar. Keshava Rao was killed in a gunbattle on May 21. Intelligence officials say that while the Maoists had made elaborate measures to 'save themselves', they were 'not able to execute their plans'. 'The offensive has been widespread with adequate deployment of forces. Most of the plans of the Maoists never materialised because of this,' a senior intelligence official told The Indian Express. Assessing the politburo circular, the official said, 'The CPI (Maoist) has not been able to have its influence on the new generation. Their assessment has come at a time when they consider their 'movement' to be weak.' Currently, the Maoists are at their weakest with their politburo and central committee depleted, intelligence officials said. The politburo has shrunk to three and the central committee members are just 17, down from 42 in 2007-08. The circular said that the party can undergo a strategic or long-term retreat or short-term tactical retreat. 'In order to prevent loss in the present encirclement attack… forces must immediately retreat out of the purview of encirclement,' the circular stated. The retreat was necessitated by a 'temporary setback' that the CPI (Maoist) had been facing since 2019, the circular pointed out. According to the circular, as part of the retreat, the Maoists decided to disband all their military commands and divide them into smaller groups. 'We must classify a unit of two groups of four (people) each as squad or section and a unit of two sections a platoon and a unit of two platoons and one section as a company. We must dissolve the units that cannot maintain this number and restructure the others,' it stated. The decision to disband came as the party lost coordination between regional commands and regional forces due to the security crackdown, the circular stated. The Maoists also decided to keep their units 'constantly mobile'. Besides, the dissolved units, the circular said, should move into areas which were earlier vacated by them including in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Maoists admitted that they are 'weak'. 'At present, the party, people's army (armed units) and united front are weak in the temporary setback… If we retreat forces from Dandakaranya, it might weaken the movement. However, in view of the importance of protection of forces, we must be prepared for this,' the circular stated. On May 21 this year, security forces dealt the Maoists a severe blow, killing Basavaraju and 26 others in an encounter in the Abujhmad forests of Chhattisgarh. In Chhattisgarh alone, the number of Maoists killed this year has crossed 200. The series of security operations are being undertaken against the backdrop of a deadline Union Home Minister Amit Shah has set to eradicate Left Wing Extremism from the country – March 31, 2026.
Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
Making cuts in implementation of MGNREGA a crime: Kharge
New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday alleged that the Modi government is trying to destroy MGNREGA and said making cuts in the implementation of this scheme is a 'crime against the Constitution'. The Congress president shared on X a media report which claimed that for the first time, the government has capped spending under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) at 60 per cent of its annual allocation for the first half of the financial year 2025-26. In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge said, 'The Modi government is trying to destroy MGNREGA, the lifeline of the poor. The Modi government has now fixed the limit of MGNREGA expenditure at 60% for the first 6 months of the year'. Making cuts in the implementation of MGNREGA, which ensures the Right to Work under the Constitution, is a 'crime against the Constitution', he said. Posing questions from the Congress' side, Kharge asked whether the Modi government is doing this only because it wants to snatch about Rs 25,000 crore from the pockets of the poor, which it has to spend separately in the next financial year when the demand is high at the end of the year. 'Since MGNREGA is a demand-driven scheme, what happens if there is a surge in demand during the first half in case of disasters or adverse weather conditions? Will not imposing such a cap hurt the poor who depend on MGNREGA for their livelihood?' Kharge said. What happens if the limit is crossed and will states be forced to deny employment despite demand, or will workers have to work without payment, he asked. Is it not true that according to a recent report, only 7 per cent of families have received the promised 100 days of work, Kharge further asked. 'Why were nearly 7 crore registered workers excluded from MGNREGA on the condition of AADHAAR based payment? Why was the MGNREGA budget allocated the least in the total budget in 10 years? Why is the anti-poor Modi government hell-bent on oppressing MGNREGA workers?' he said. The axing of expenditure on MGNREGA is a severe blow inflicted by the Modi government on the lives of every poor, Kharge said, adding the Congress will vehemently oppose this. 'We are firm on our two demands -- First, a minimum wage of Rs 400 per day should be fixed for MGNREGA workers. Second, there should be employment for at least 150 days in a year,' he said.
