What Steps Is the Maha Govt Taking for a Trilingual Policy?

Mumbai, Sep 5 (NationPress) The Maharashtra government announced on Friday the establishment of a committee led by former Planning Commission member Narendra Jadhav to formulate a trilingual policy for schools within the state, aligning with the National Education Policy 2020.

This government resolution follows a decision made on June 30 amidst controversies surrounding the introduction of Hindi as a third language alongside Marathi and English for classes 1 to 5.

The committee will feature members such as Sadanand More (Former Chairman, Language Advisory Committee), Vaman Kendra (Director, National School of Drama), Aparna Morris (Educationist, Pune), Sonali Kulkarni Joshi (Head of Language Science, Deccan College, Pune), Madhushree Savji (Educationist, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), and Bhushan Shukla (Child Psychologist, Pune), with Sanjay Yadav (State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Mumbai) serving as the member secretary.

The committee will operate according to the terms outlined in the government decision dated June 30, 2025, and must present its report on the trilingual policies within three months.

In accordance with its terms of reference, the committee will analyze the report from the Raghunath Mashelkar committee and engage with relevant constituents, institutions, and the public. Additionally, it will examine other states and Union Territories that have implemented the National Education Policy 2020.

The establishment of the Narendra Jadhav committee comes after the cancellation of two resolutions regarding the three-language policy, following strong criticism from Shiv Sena UBT, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Congress, and NCP regarding what they termed as the government's attempt at "Hindi imposition" in the state.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stated, "We have resolved to form a committee under educationist Narendra Jadhav to establish from which standard the languages should be taught, how this implementation should occur, and what options should be available for students. The final decision on the three-language policy will be based on the committee's report, leading to the cancellation of both the Government Resolutions issued on April 16 and June 17."

The June 17 Government Resolution indicated that Hindi is "generally" the third language and not mandatory for Classes 1 to 5 in both English and Marathi medium schools. This came after the earlier resolution on April 16 made Hindi a compulsory third language for these grades.

The second resolution reignited the "Hindi imposition" debate, a concern voiced by non-Hindi-speaking states regarding the perceived imposition of Hindi on non-native speakers at the expense of their own languages.

However, on July 5, Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS founder Raj Thackeray, in a joint rally against the imposition of Hindi, asserted their opposition to the government's proposal to introduce Hindi as a third language from grade one alongside Marathi and English.