Maharashtra’s Three-Language Policy: Committee Seeks Public Views for Students’ Benefit
Mumbai, September 17: Dr. Narendra Jadhav, the head of the new committee on Maharashtra’s three-language policy, wants to create the best plan by listening to what people think. This effort focuses on the needs of over 2.12 crore students across 1.08 lakh schools in the state. "Maharashtra leads the way in education, and other states look to us," Jadhav said after the committee’s first meeting. The group formed to align the policy with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aims to keep students’ interests first.
The committee will soon launch a dedicated website for the trilingual policy. In the next 15 days, they’ll add a special link where parents, students, citizens, and experts can share their opinions easily. Jadhav shared that they’ve already gathered key information on the three-language formula and discussed it in the meeting. The next session will dive deeper into these details.
To get more input, the team plans two types of questionnaires. One is open to everyone, while the other targets Marathi language institutions. "Anyone can fill these out via the online link," Jadhav explained. They’ll send copies to schools, colleges, public leaders, and parents to encourage wide participation.
Jadhav also plans personal meetings with political leaders who’ve spoken out on the three-language policy in Maharashtra. Over the next 15 days, he’ll hear their views directly. To connect with people across the state, he has a busy travel schedule lined up: Sambhajinagar on October 8, Nagpur on October 10, Kolhapur on October 30, Ratnagiri on October 31, Nashik on November 11, Pune on November 13, Solapur on November 21, and Mumbai in late November. During these visits, the committee will talk to folks from all walks of life about the Hindi, Marathi, and English language setup in schools.
The group won’t stop there—they’ll also check how other states handle their trilingual education policies. After gathering feedback from every corner of Maharashtra, the committee hopes to submit its full report to the government by December 5. "We’ll work hard to deliver a top-notch recommendation that truly helps our 2.12 crore students," Jadhav added.
This all comes after some heated debates on Hindi imposition in Maharashtra schools. Back on September 5, the state government set up the committee led by former Planning Commission member Dr. Narendra Jadhav. It followed their June 30 decision amid backlash from parties like Shiv Sena (UBT), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Congress, and NCP (SP). They opposed what they called forced Hindi in schools, especially for classes 1 to 5.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stepped in to calm things. "We’ve formed Dr. Jadhav’s committee to decide the right grade to start the languages, how to roll them out, and what options students get," he announced. Until the report comes, the government scrapped two earlier resolutions from April 16 and June 17. The first made Hindi a must as the third language alongside Marathi and English for young students. The second softened it to "generally" Hindi but not compulsory, reigniting the row over pushing Hindi on non-native speakers at the expense of local languages like Marathi.
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