With the rising row over the “imposition” of the Hindi language in Maharashtra, the NCP on Monday said the government would never take a decision detrimental to the status of the Marathi language, which it described as the “soul” of the state.
Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Anand Paranjpe, while addressing the media, said that the government was committed to upholding the importance of the Marathi language and its prominence across the state.
Hailing the Prime Minister, Anand Paranjape also said that Marathi was recognised as a classical language by the Modi government.
“Marathi is the sole language and the soul of Maharashtra. The Mahayuti government will never take any decision that harms its status,” he added.
The NCP headed by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar is one of the constituents of the BJP-led Mahayuti.
The state government last week issued an amended order, stating Hindi will “generally” be taught as the third language to students in Marathi and English medium schools from classes 1 to 5.
As reported by PTI, the government maintained that Hindi would not be compulsory; however, it mandated consent of at least 20 students per grade in a school for studying any Indian language other than Hindi.
The opposition claimed the government is making Hindi the default third language and vowed to oppose its “imposition” in Maharashtra.
However, during the ongoing controversy over the Maharashtra government’s decision to include Hindi as the third language in the curriculum of Marathi and English medium schools.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, will hold a crucial meeting on 23 June, 2025, to review the three-language formula in the state.
Earlier, the Government of Maharashtra had also issued a revised Government Resolution (GR) which omitted the word “mandatory” but specified that Hindi will be taught as the third language in Marathi and English medium schools from Classes 1 to 5.
Also, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray earlier asked what was the need to “impose” Hindi on students and appealed to schools in the state to foil the government`s “hidden agenda to deliberately create a language divide”.
(With PTI Inputs)
