Maharashtra is not anti-Hindi, but it should not be imposed on primary school students: Sharad Pawar
The people of Maharashtra are not anti-Hindi but it is not right to impose the language on students in primary schools, PTI quoted Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar as saying on Friday.
Mother tongue is more important during this age, the Opposition leader said.
Learning Hindi would be in the students’ interest after Class 5 as 55% of the people in India speak the language, he added.
Sharad Pawar’s remarks come amid a state-wide row, triggered by the Mahayuti government’s June 17 order making Hindi a “generally” taught third language for students in Class 1 to Class 5 across Marathi and English medium schools.
The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and the Nationalist Congress Party group led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
According to the order, if 20 students per grade in a school wish to study any other Indian language, they can opt out of Hindi. If such a demand arises, either a teacher will be appointed or the language will be taught online.
On Monday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that a final decision on the three-language formula in schools will be taken after consulting all stakeholders.
On Friday, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) announced that it will hold a joint protest against the three-language policy...
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