Dharmendra Pradhan dismisses Tamil Nadu’s opposition to NEP as ‘mere politics’, says Centre not imposing Hindi

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan dismissed the Tamil Nadu government’s opposition to the National Education Policy (NEP) and called it “political”. The Union minister also said the Centre is not trying to impose Hindi over Tamil in the state.

Saying the Centre is committed to implementing the NEP across the country, the Union education minister said the policy does not impose Hindi or any other language on students in Tamil Nadu.  "But, what is wrong if a student in Tamil Nadu learns multilingual aspects in education?" asked Pradhan.

Addressing presspersons in New Delhi, Pradhan said, “It can be Tamil, English and other Indian languages. There is no imposition of Hindi or any other language on them. Some friends in Tamil Nadu are doing politics. But the Indian government is committed to implementing NEP and there are certain conditions with NEP,” PTI reported.

Pradhan’s statement comes a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin slammed the Union minister for his comments during Kashi Tamil Sangamam. Pradhan reportedly had said Tamil Nadu should implement the NEP in its entirety for funds under the Sarva Shiksha Abyan scheme. Stalin said the comments were unacceptable and charged the Union minister was “blackmailing” the southern state.

"Tamil Nadu (government) is not implementing the policy because of its political interests but to create competition among students, to create a level-playing field, we have to come to a common platform. The NEP is the new aspirational common platform. I respect all languages. This NEP, envisioned by PM Modi, puts emphasis on the mother tongue...Tamil is one of the oldest languages of our civilisation," Pradhan added.

The state government had been demanding the Centre to release Rs 2,152 crore of funds meant for the education department in Tamil Nadu.