MK Stalin says NEP to ‘destroy’ Tamil Nadu's education, slams Dharmendra Pradhan's ‘rude’ remark
Stalin claimed that the National Education Policy (NEP) would privatise education and deprive students of opportunities
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Tuesday reiterated the DMK government's opposition to the National Education Policy (NEP) and condemned union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan for his “uncivilised” remark against the state. The remark was expunged from house records after the BJP leader apologised.
Citing the southern state's economic growth, Stalin said, “Tamil Nadu has become India's second most economically developed state. In the last three years, more than 10 lakh crore private investments have been ensured. If there were no hurdles, our Tamil Nadu growth would have been much better.”
The chief minister expressed his concerns about the centre's alleged pressure tactics and the NEP's potential negative impact on the state's education system. “In the name of National Education Policy, they impose policies with the intention to destroy education in Tamil Nadu fully,” Stalin said during a welfare assistance distribution ceremony near Chennai.
‘Blackmail’ by Centre
Stalin also alleged that the Centre would release ₹2000 crores of education funds to Tamil Nadu only if the state agreed to the triple language policy, which includes Hindi and Sanskrit. “We will not accept the National Education Policy. I repeat, not only ₹2000 crores, even if you give 100,000 crores, we will not accept this hazardous NEP scheme,” he said.
The chief minister claimed that the NEP would privatise education and deprive students of opportunities. “Making education privatized, making higher education only for the rich, mixing education with religion, introducing public exams for even small children, and introducing NEET-like entrance exams for arts, science, and engineering students would give more rights to the union government in education,” he added.
The DMK leader condemned Pradhan's remark as “rude” and accused the BJP-led Centre of “blackmailing” the state. “Yesterday, Dharmendra Pradhan said that Tamils are uncivilized without controlling his tongue. But after his speech, in half an hour, our Tamil Nadu MPs made him take back his words. I appreciate them for their war speech,” he added.
(With PTI inputs)
