Maharashtra Govt Reintroduces Hindi As Default Third Language In Schools

The Maharashtra government, led by the BJP, has reintroduced Hindi as the third language in primary schools. This decision has sparked criticism from opposition parties. A recent government resolution (GR) states that Hindi will be the default third language unless at least 20 students opt for another language. While Marathi and English remain mandatory, students can choose alternatives like French or Spanish.

However, the state will not provide teachers for non-Hindi languages; these courses might be offered online. "This is nothing short of a backdoor imposition of Hindi," said Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal. He accused the BJP and RSS of pushing a 'one nation, one language' agenda under bureaucratic terms and vowed to protest against this decision.

Opposition's Concerns Over Language Policy

Sapkal also criticised regional allies like Shiv Sena and NCP for their silence on this issue, accusing them of compromising Marathi pride. He believes they are allowing Hindi to dominate the state's education system. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis defended the move as aligning with the National Education Policy (NEP).

According to Fadnavis, NEP encourages learning three languages: one's mother tongue (Marathi), a global language (English), and Hindi, which is widely spoken. "If we are comfortable learning English, why object to Hindi?" he questioned. He added that schools could offer other languages but noted that there are enough teachers only for Hindi.

MNS Protests Against GR

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray rejected Fadnavis's explanation. "If Hindi is not mandatory in Gujarat, why should it be in Maharashtra? We will not allow any such imposition," he stated firmly. MNS workers protested across various parts of the state by burning Hindi textbooks and demanding an immediate withdrawal of the GR.

Fadnavis mentioned having discussions with Raj Thackeray and expressed hope that the opposition would understand the rationale behind this decision. However, tensions remain high as protests continue against what many see as an imposition of Hindi over regional languages.