The Supreme Court has said the state of Tamil Nadu, saying it has to change its mindset towards teaching Hindi in schools within the state. A Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and AG Masih remarked during the hearing of a case related to the establishment of Navodaya schools, centrally funded, co-educational, residential schools, in Tamil Nadu.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by Tamil Nadu challenging a Madras High Court judgment directing it to set up Navodaya Vidyalayas in every district. One of the objections raised by the state was that these schools follow a three-language policy, including Hindi, which conflicts with the State's two-language policy.
"You have to change your mindset; it can’t be that Hindi will not be taught in the soil of Tamil Nadu," Justice Nagarathna observed today.
The Court also remarked that the people in Chennai should not alienate those sitting in Delhi. "We are saying in addition to all the good things you’re doing in your State, having something in addition will not bring down your standards. Coming from Delhi will not lower the standards of Chennai. People in Chennai should not alienate Delhi and vice versa," the Court said.
The Madras High Court in 2025 had directed the state to identify land required for establishing Navodaya Vidyalayas in each district.
The High Court had ruled that Navodaya Vidyalayas did not violate the Tamil Nadu Tamil Learning Act and that the State’s blanket refusal to set up such schools curtailed students’ right to choose educational institutions. It had directed the State to provide temporary accommodation for 240 students in each district.
Following this, the State approached the Supreme Court, seeking a recall of the order. The state argued that the education policy falls within its exclusive domain and that its two-language policy was incompatible with the Navodaya model.
"It is against the State policy. It supersedes Tamil. This kind of unification is not the purport of the Constitution. It is not a Central government school. It is a school run by a society. There is an adamancy that Hindi must predominate,” Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, representing the Tamil Nadu government, told the court.
To this, Justice Nagarathna observed that Navodaya Vidyalayas are not against the State policy and that the States need to have a dialogue with respect to their language policy.
