No compulsion to study Hindi: Maharashtra CM Fadnavis amid language row

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday dismissed concerns over the “imposition” of the Hindi in the state, asserting that Marathi will continue to be compulsory.

“It is wrong to say that attempts are being made to impose Hindi. Marathi will be compulsory in Maharashtra. There will be no other compulsion,” Fadnavis told reporters in Pune, hours after the language advisory committee of the state’s Marathi Language Department appealed to him to revoke the government’s decision mandating Hindi as a third language for students from class 1 to 5.

Fadnavis said that the New Education Policy says two of the three languages to be taught to students must be Indian languages. “It is important to learn languages. The rule states that two of these three languages must be Indian. Marathi is already being made compulsory. You cannot take any other language, except Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam or Gujarati,” he said.

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“We will take a decision that if a student wishes to learn another language other than Hindi then he or she will be allowed to do so. The facility is also available in the NEP,” Fadnavis clarified. “However, there will be a rider that the number of students opting for another language must be at least 20 students only then they will be able to appoint a new teacher. If not then a virtual or alternate mode will be explored to teach students,” he added.

He said teachers are available for the Hindi language as per the recommendations. “In case of other (regional) languages, teachers are not available,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the state’s language consultation committee chairman Lakshmikant Deshmukh said that the decision to make Hindi mandatory from class 1, along with Marathi and English, would burden students, the letter said. HT has seen the letter.

“No language has been made compulsory in the National Education Policy. On the contrary, the NEP states that education should be imparted through the mother tongue. Therefore, making Hindi mandatory as a third language is not right,” the letter said.

A government resolution issued by the state government on April 17 said that made Hindi a compulsory third language for classes 1 to 5 from the 2026-27 academic year, adding that the new syllabus complying with the National Education Policy will be implemented from the current academic year.

The three-language formula under NEP 2020 makes it mandatory for every school student to study at least three languages. The policy allows states, regions, and students to choose three languages, provided at least two are native Indian languages. But, the issue has led to intense debate with states like Tamil Nadu accusing the Centre of seeking to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speakers, and the BJP-led central government saying that the policy “upholds the principle of linguistic freedom” and “does not advocate the imposition of any language” on states.

Deshmukh’s letter said that the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) failed to consult the language advisory committee before finalising the language policy.

The committee, comprising linguists, language scholars, and academicians, said that the compulsory introduction of Hindi at this level is educationally unsound, the letter said.

Currently, the three-language formula applies only to secondary education. With this change, it will now begin at the primary level, bringing significant adjustments to the language curriculum particularly in Marathi-medium and English-medium schools.

“Starting Hindi as a third language from Class 1 is unnecessary and contradicts established educational and child psychology principles. Hence, as a Language Advisory Committee, we have formally requested the chief minister to reconsider this decision and withdraw the mandate to avoid overburdening students,” Deshmukh said.

Copies of the letter have been sent to deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, and minister for Marathi language Uday Samant, Deshmukh said.

The committee is currently working on implementing the three-language policy in central government offices and typically meets once every six months to review its projects, Deshmukh informed.

The opposition parties, particularly Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MNS, have alleged that Hindi is being imposed in Maharashtra after the state government gave its nod to implement the three-language formula under the NEP.