Defending the government’s stance while clarifying the position on the PM SHRI initiative in the National Education Policy (NEP), Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan responded to the opposition of the Tamil Nadu government during the political war in Parliament.
Pradhan speaking outside Parliament stated, “Recently, the Government of India had a discussion with the Tamil Nadu government. A way of compromise was also found in this. If the Tamil Nadu government agrees to that path, we have no objection in giving them PM SHRI allocation. In Tamil Nadu, only the Tamil language will be the medium of instruction in PM SHRI schools. What is your (Tamil Nadu government) opposition? I don’t understand this.”
He further emphasized that the central government was not imposing any language policy, asserting, “Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra are all implementing PM SHRI and NEP… No one is imposing any language on anyone… They are just doing politics.”
Meanwhile, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran refuted claims made by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan that the Tamil Nadu government had agreed to sign the National Education Policy (NEP).
Maran, in his remarks, clarified that the DMK has never consented to the NEP or its controversial three-language policy, which has sparked significant opposition in Tamil Nadu.
Maran stated, “Dharmendra Pradhan lied by saying that DMK govt had agreed (to sign NEP). DMK never agreed to NEP or 3-language policy, all we said is that we can’t. Why should our students in Tamil Nadu learn 3 languages, whereas students from North India learn only one language?”
He further defended Tamil Nadu’s position on language, stressing that the opposition was not against Hindi but rather the compulsory imposition of three languages. “We are not against Hindi. if there are students who want to learn Hindi, they are free to do so, but it should not be compulsory,” Maran added.
Earlier, DMK MP Kanimozhi expressed her strong disapproval after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan referred to the members of Parliament of DMK, the Tamil Nadu government, and the people of Tamil Nadu as “uncivilised” in his response in Parliament.
Kanimozhi, in her Lok Sabha address, stated, “I am very pained and hurt that the minister in his reply in the parliament (Dharmendra Pradhan) has called the members of Parliament, the Tamil Nadu Government, and the people of Tamil Nadu uncivilised.”
Meanwhile, during his address in Lok Sabha, Pradhan accused the DMK of being “dishonest” and playing “politics” at the cost of Tamil Nadu students’ futures. “They (DMK) are dishonest. They are not committed to the students of Tamil Nadu. They are ruining the future of Tamil Nadu students. Their only job is to raise language barriers. They are doing politics. They are doing mischief. They are undemocratic and uncivilised,” Pradhan said.
