Policy of making Hindi compulsory in state schools was approved when Uddhav was CM Minister

Mumbai, Jun 27 (PTI) Maharashtra minister Uday Samant on Friday said the policy of making Hindi compulsory from Class 1 in the state schools was approved during Uddhav Thackeray's tenure as the chief minister under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
Talking to reporters, Samant, who is Minister for Marathi Language, also claimed that the present government has not imposed Hindi nor has it been made compulsory anywhere in the state.
"The policy of making Hindi compulsory in Maharashtra schools was approved during the tenure of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, when Uddhav Thackeray served as the chief minister. The Dr Raghunath Mashelkar Committee had recommended making mandatory the teaching of three languages - Marathi, English, and Hindi - from Classes 1 to 12. This proposal was approved by the state cabinet led by Thackeray," he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Harshal Pradhan, however hit back, saying the Uddhav Thackeray-led government accepted the Mashelkar committee's report, but that does that mean it agreed to implement all its provisions.
The Thackeray government had started to implement appropriate provisions but then his government was toppled, he added.
Thackeray-led MVA dispensation was in power from November 2019 till its collapse in June 2022.
Taking a dig at the Sena (UBT), Samant said the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has announced to hold a protest against the three-language formula and the Sena (UBT) was also joining it.
He said the MNS and the Sena (UBT) coming together for a common issue does not mean they will form an alliance for the civic body polls.
The two parties will hold their common protest on July 5 in Mumbai.
The language row erupted after the state government last week issued an amended order stating Hindi will "generally" be taught as the third language to students in Marathi and English medium schools from Classes 1 to 5.
According to the order, if 20 students per grade in a school wish to study any other Indian language, they can opt out of Hindi. If such a demand arises, either a teacher will be appointed, or the language will be taught online.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has made it clear that Hindi is optional while Marathi is compulsory.
School Education Minister Dada Bhuse has said there will be no books for Classes 1 and 2. The medium of instruction will be oral, and students of these two grades will be taught songs and shown pictures.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)