Primacy to Marathi, no imposition of Hindi in Maharashtra: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis dismissed concerns over the "imposition" of the Hindi language in the state on Sunday, asserting that Marathi will continue to be compulsory.

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.

"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 after attending a programme organised at the Bhandarkar Research Institute in Pune.

Responding to the row over the government's approval to make Hindi a compulsory third language in schools, Fadnavis said, "We need to understand that Hindi has not been made mandatory instead of Marathi. The Marathi language is a must".

He said the New Education Policy states that two of the three languages to be taught to students must be Indian languages.

"The new education policy has provided an opportunity to learn three 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," the chief minister said.

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.

Fadnavis questioned the people's perception of Indian languages and English.

"I am surprised by one thing. We oppose Indian languages like Hindi but we praise English. Why do many people feel that English is closer to them and Indian languages are farther? We should also think about this," the Chief Minister said.