It is not NEP 2020, it is RSS 2020

TAMIL NADU’S RESISTANCE to the three-language policy under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has reignited the debate over linguistic identity.

- LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN

Chief Minister and DMK supremo M.K. Stalin has accused the Central government of imposing a monolithic Hindi identity that threatens regional languages. While the BJP insists that the policy does not force anyone to study Hindi or Sanskrit, Stalin argues that, in practice, these languages are often prioritised. The opposition to the NEP, the proposed PM SHRI schools (PM Schools for Rising India) under its framework and the Central government's insistence on the three-language formula have sparked a major controversy, with the Tamil Nadu government and the DMK firmly opposing the Centre’s stance. In response, the Central government has withheld ₹2,512 crore in funding under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), affecting the state’s school education department.

On March 5 afternoon at his residence on the Greenways Road in Chennai, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, Tamil Nadu education minister, is busy drafting proposals to be sent to the Central government to resolve the funding deadlock. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, the minister spoke about the NEP and why the state remains firm in rejecting the three-language formula and the PM SHRI schools. Excerpts:

Q/ You met Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan last year to discuss Tamil Nadu’s position on NEP 2020.

A/ It was before last year’s Lok Sabha elections. The meeting was to discuss the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the three-language policy. My bureaucrats had informed me that if we did not sign up for the PM SHRI scheme, we would not receive any financial support from the Centre. I was quite confident I could persuade him.