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Only 7% Indians trilingual, but attempts on to make Hindi 3rd language: Panel member
The New Indian Express Chennai
|August 24, 2025
ASHOK Vardhan Shetty, member, High-Level Committee on Union-State Relations (HCUSR), on Saturday, said that there are attempts to impose Hindi or Sanskrit as a third language by stealth, while the fact is that only 7% of Indians are trilingual according to the 2011 Census.
Speaking at a national seminar on Union-State Relations here on the topics - language, education and health, Shetty said, "The so-called three-language formula has existed since 1968, except in Tamil Nadu. Yet the 2011 census reveals that only 7% of Indians are trilingual. What's the point of having a three-language formula for 43 years? If at the end of it, only 7% of Indians can speak three languages."
Shetty said just like potatoes, chillies, coffee and tea, which were not native to India but were introduced in the past 200-400 years, and became our staple foods, English, present for 250 years, is no longer foreign but has become an Indian language.
This story is from the August 24, 2025 edition of The New Indian Express Chennai.
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