Poet Hemant Divate to return state award as protest against imposition of Hindi in schools

Hemant Divate, a poet who has received a state award for his poetry collection, has announced that he is returning the award in protest against the imposition of Hindi as the third language in classes 1 to 5, in Marathi and English medium schools in Maharashtra.
Divate was awarded by the government of Maharashtra in the year 2021 with Kavi Keshavsut Puraskar (award) for his book Paranoia, a collection of his poems. He made the announcement of his decision to return the award via his social media where he posted, 'As a protest against the decision to impose Hindi as the third language, I am returning the Maharashtra State Government's award, including the cash prize, that I received for my poetry collection Paranoia.'
Divate said, 'It is completely unnecessary to teach Hindi formally in schools at this young age. At this stage, children are just beginning to learn Marathi, and learning Hindi simultaneously—given the similarities between the two languages—can create confusion. Instead, the government could consider introducing subjects focused on skills, value education, and personality development, which would be more beneficial for young learners.'
Months after retracting its decision to make Hindi mandatory in Classes 1 to 5, the Maharashtra school education department issued a revised order, removing the word 'mandatory' as promised. However, restrictive conditions on language options have sparked fresh controversy, with many calling it a renewed push for Hindi by the state government.

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