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, 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 on Sunday.
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. “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.
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.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. 
Maharashtra Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar on Sunday also clarified that that Hindi will only be taught from Classes 1 to 5 to provide students a basic understanding of the language. Kesarkar said the controversy stems from a misunderstanding, as Hindi was already a compulsory subject in Classes 5 to 7 under the previous framework.Kesarkar noted that both Hindi and Marathi share the Devanagari script, making it easier for students to learn. "Marathi and Hindi both use Devanagari script, so they already have some similarity... There has been a misunderstanding - the compulsion for Hindi was already there before... Now it's being relaxed," he said.