Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 13: DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai has strongly criticized the BJP-led Central government’s three-language policy under the National Education Policy (NEP), calling it unnecessary and detrimental to students. Annadurai argued, “Nobody needs to study a third language. The BJP is trying to trivialize this issue. It will be good for the students of this entire country if the BJP scraps the third language. People in North India don’t even study two languages. Why is Annamalai hell-bent on imposing a third language on the students?”
Annadurai accused the BJP of pushing this policy as part of a “sinister agenda” to alienate students from Tamil Nadu from the broader education system, asserting that the BJP and RSS aim to exclude Tamil Nadu students and push them toward vocational education. He stated, “There is a sinister agenda behind this. They want to find ways to filter out Tamil Nadu students from the education system. The RSS doesn’t want the Indian masses to be educated. They want all these people to be trained in vocational courses. They want plumbers, carpenters, cobblers. Please consign this third language to the dustbin.”
Earlier, Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao also criticized the central government’s stance on Hindi imposition and delimitation, calling it unfair to South India. He voiced support for Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin’s opposition, urging all political parties to unite against these issues and back Stalin’s efforts.
“I have been saying that the Hindi imposition and delimitation are just to serve North India and unfair to South India. All parties should unite against these matters. Delimitation will lessen our MP seats. This is the work of the saffron party. Everyone should support the good work that Stalin is doing on this issue,” said Rao.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin reiterated his criticism of the National Education Policy, calling it a “saffronize policy” intended to promote Hindi instead of the educational development of India. Addressing the media in Tiruvallur, Stalin emphasized, “National Education Policy is not an education policy; it is a saffronize policy. The policy was not created to develop India but to develop Hindi. We are opposing the policy as that would destroy the Tamil Nadu education system completely.”
Stalin further accused the central government of withholding funds as a way to coerce Tamil Nadu into accepting the NEP. “We are asking for your tax share, which we paid with our efforts. What is the problem with this? Is it fair to threaten without releasing funds for the welfare of 43 lakh schools? As we didn’t accept NEP, they are refusing to release funds that belong to Tamil Nadu,” Stalin added.
In response to these criticisms, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan denied the allegations of Hindi imposition and clarified that the NEP allows states to choose their own languages for teaching.
On Tuesday, Pradhan challenged Tamil Nadu’s stance on the three-language policy and NEP, accusing CM Stalin of using the issue as a diversion tactic. “I stand by my statement made in the Parliament and am sharing the consent letter from Tamil Nadu School Education Department dated 15th March 2024. DMK MPs and Hon’ble CM can stack lies as high as they want, but the truth does not bother knocking when it comes crashing down,” Pradhan posted on X.
The ongoing debate highlights the tensions between the state and central government over the implementation of the National Education Policy and the language issue.