Priyanka Tiwari
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Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, voiced his opinion on the new education policy in its support and came out strongly for learning multiple languages, not just three. In meetings with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, he expressed the need for education in multiple languages and even proposed the learning of 10 languages in the universities in his state.
Answering queries regarding the stern disapproval of the three languages by Tamil Nadu Chief Minsiter MK Stalin, he stated that English and Telugu are great languages to promote, however, knowing Hindi makes social interactions much simpler.
The argument took a turn when Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated that under the Samagra Shiksha funding programme, Tamil Nadu was likely to lose money if there is no NEP implementation or adoption of its three-language policy.
Stalin replied, arguing that Tamils would not be willing to accept such “blackmail” and proceeded to ask, “which constitutional provision” made the three-language formula compulsory. The DMK has accused that this so-called formula was only to enable what is termed “Hindi imposition” and said it was resolved to check the Centre on this issue.
Naidu further said that language should aid in communication instead of serving as an obstacle to acquiring knowledge. He also supported the idea of accommodating more than one language and said that though educating a child in her or his mother tongue is essential, the importance of Hindi in bringing people together also has to be accepted.
