Will not allow 3 language policy in TN: Palaniswami

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday (August 3) criticised the Centre’s three-language policy mentioned in the New Education Policy 2020 and said that his government would never allow the same to be implemented in the state.

Palaniswami said the state would continue to follow the two-language policy (Tamil and English) espoused by former chief ministers Annadurai, MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa.

“Three-language formula in NEP is painful and saddening. I appeal to Prime Minister to reconsider. Let the states implement as per the policy,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV in a statement.

The chief minister cited the language movement or the 1965 anti-Hindi agitation in the state against the Congress government’s imposition of Hindi as the official language. The agitation paved the way for the historic resolution by Annadurai on January 23, 1968 to abolish the three-language policy in all schools while removing Hindi from the state syllabus. He recalled how on November 13, 1986 a resolution asserting the two-language policy moved by former chief minister MG Ramachandran was adopted by the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

The new policy by the Centre has also been opposed by other parties in the state including the DMK, who have demanded a review of the same.

DMK chief ML Stalin on Saturday alleged that the policy was an attempt to impose Hindi and Sanskrit in the state.