Edu minister, Stalin spar amid NEP language row

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday reiterated the government's stance that the National Education Policy 2020 "upholds the principle of linguistic freedom" and appealed to Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin to not "politicise the issue", prompting the DMK leader to accuse the central government of blackmailing his government in the state.

- Sanjay Maurya

NEW DELHI:

A day after Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking release of funds for the sake of "cooperative federalism" and "welfare" of hundreds of thousands of students, Pradhan on Friday said that NEP "does not advocate the imposition of any language" on states.

"NEP 2020 upholds the principle of linguistic freedom and ensures that students continue to learn in the language of their choice. In fact, one of the core objectives of the policy is to revive and strengthen the teaching of Indian languages," he said.

"Let me unequivocally state that there is no question of imposing any language on any state or community," he said in a post on X in a 10-point response to Stalin's letter to PM Modi.