Following outrage in Tamil Nadu over a draft education policy favouring teaching Hindi in non-Hindi-speaking states, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday undertook damage control, emphasising no decision had been taken. Both Jaishankar and Sitharaman are natives of Tamil Nadu.
Jaishankar said state governments will be consulted before a final decision is taken on the issue. Jaishankar’s response came after a Twitter user posted a query to him on the issue. “The National Education Policy as submitted to the Minister HRD is only a draft report. Feedback shall be obtained from general public. State governments will be consulted. Only after this the draft report will be finalised. GoI respects all languages. No language will be imposed,” Jaishankar tweeted.
Sitharaman posted a tweet in Tamil on the issue. She wrote, “The draft report of the education committee will be implemented after public hearings. The prime minister initiated the ‘Ek Bharat Sreshth Bharat’ initiative to develop all the Indian languages. The Union government will support the development of ancient language of Tamil.”The draft national education policy recommends a range of reform measures and favours teaching of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states.
The recommendations relating to teaching of Hindi drew sharp reactions from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and actor Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam. Former HRD minister Prakash Javadekar, who is now minister for information and broadcasting in the second Narendra Modi government, on Saturday said a committee had prepared a draft report on the education policy and that no decision has been taken on implementing it.
