Decode Politics: Why ‘Hindi imposition' row is back again in Maharashtra

A Maharashtra government order issued earlier this week has brought back the 'Hindi imposition' conversation in the state.
In April, following a barrage of criticism, the Maharashtra government withdrew its decision to make Hindi the mandatory third language for Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and Hindi-medium schools under the state board.
In the new Government Resolution (GR) issued on Tuesday, the state government removed the word 'mandatory', but because of restrictive conditions on alternatives to Hindi as a third language, many are claiming this is a 'new push' for Hindi. However, the state government still insists Hindi is just an 'optional' language.
The new GR is a revision of the earlier order that said three languages would be taught from Class 1 in Marathi and English-medium state board schools, with Hindi as the mandatory third language. The established practice for these schools in Maharashtra has been to introduce a third language to students in secondary school or after Class 5.
The order was withdrawn after criticism from political parties and education experts, and an assurance was given that a new resolution would be issued to clarify that Hindi would just be an 'option' as a third language.
The latest GR states, 'Hindi will generally be the third language for classes 1 to 5.' If students wish to 'study any other Indian language instead of Hindi as their third language', they will be permitted to do so if a 'minimum of 20 students from the same class in the same school' express 'interest in learning that particular language'.
If not, the GR says, 'language will be taught through online methods'.
The inclusion of the word 'generally' has sparked fresh criticism. The revised order, according to the critics, fails to provide any options or alternatives to Hindi apart from stating that it has to be an Indian language. They say that there are multiple Indian languages and the state has to clarify what can be taught and define the curriculum.
Educationist Kishore Darak also identified the need for a structured curriculum for third languages. 'Teaching pedagogies for languages are different. The assumption is that those who can teach Marathi can teach Hindi … The script of the two languages is similar but that does not mean no extra effort by children or teachers in terms of learning,' he said.
Teachers have also questioned how the government plans to make arrangements for students when they want to study an alternative language. Some have even raised objections about the need for 20 students per class as a prerequisite to studying another language.
Senior educationist Vasant Kalpande said that 'over 80% government-run schools' in Maharashtra would not be able to meet the criteria, thereby automatically making Hindi the default third language.
'A lot of government-run schools have a total enrollment of less than 20 students in a class. Hindi will then become, by default, the third language. And with no curriculum, no textbooks and no teachers (for other languages), no government-run school will be able to provide an option to Hindi,' Kalpande said.
Girish Samant, the chairman of the Shikshan Mandal Goregaon, which runs a popular Marathi medium school in suburban Mumbai, flagged issues with the direction on online teaching. 'This is very unclear as the government is asking schools to seek online platforms to teach languages alternative to Hindi without providing a curriculum, textbooks or any other support. The main problem stands… The government does not justify how language can be taught online to Class 1 students.'
After the revised GR sparked a heated debate, state school education minister Dada Bhuse issued a clarification on Wednesday evening.
'Marathi will be a compulsory subject in all schools, regardless of the medium of instruction. Strict action will be taken against schools that do not teach Marathi,' Bhuse said, doubling down on the importance given to Marathi.
An official from the school education department said detailed guidelines would be issued soon on alternatives to Hindi.
After the original order was issued in April, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray took the most aggressive stand on the issue, joined by his cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. The state Congress, too, joined the regional parties to staunchly oppose the alleged imposition of Hindi in state schools.
The MNS, whose core plank is built around Marathi identity politics, has again strongly criticised the new GR and warned that such a move threatens the cultural and linguistic identity of the state.
'Why is Hindi being forced only in Maharashtra? Are you going to teach Marathi as the third language in Bihar or elsewhere in the country?' Raj Thackeray asked at a press conference on Wednesday. The MNS chief has also written to school principals, advising them against implementing the order.
The Congress targeted the government, saying the latter 'was merely playing with words'. 'This is a part of the RSS's strategy of imposing Hindi on all regions and destroying the regional culture,' alleged Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the three-language formula is as per the recommendations of the New Education Policy (NEP). 'We are backing English but hating Indian languages. This is not appropriate. Indian languages are better than English… Earlier, we had said that the third language should be Hindi. Now we have removed the 'mandatory' clause. Students can learn any other third language, but there should be 20 students in a class. We will provide teachers. We will also provide online teaching,' Fadnavis said.

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