What Forced Maharashtra Govt To Scrap Hindi Language Policy | Timeline

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Last Updated:June 29, 2025, 22:07 IST

The government resolutions on three-language policy drew strong criticism from the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, which includes Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS, and NCP (SP).

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis (PTI File)

Amid mounting political pressure and criticism from the opposition, the Maharashtra government on Sunday officially scrapped the two resolutions on the three-language policy for schools.

However, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that a committee, headed by educationist Dr Narendra Jadhav, would be formed to decide the appropriate class level for introducing new languages, define the implementation strategy, and outline the language options that should be made available to students.

“Based on the report submitted by this committee, the state government will make a final decision on the implementation of the three-language policy. Until then, both the Government Resolutions issued on April 16 and June 17 have been cancelled," he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde accused Opposition leaders of hypocrisy, stating, “Those who are accusing us today had accepted the Mashelkar Committee’s recommendations for a three-language formula — Marathi, Hindi, and English — when they were in power. This is two-faced politics."

Here’s a detailed timeline on Maharashtra’s three-language policy:

April: The state education department announced Hindi would be made a compulsory third language for Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English medium schools, aligning with NEP 2020.
April 17: A formal government resolution was issued to implement this change under NEP guidelines.
June 18: The policy was revised to make Hindi the default third language, but students could opt for another Indian language if at least 20 students in a class made such a request.
June 24: A committee was formed to re-examine the language policy and make recommendations.
June 27: The government clarified that Hindi was not mandatory, and alternative Indian languages would be permitted.
June 29: The state officially withdrew the resolution mandating Hindi as the third language.

Behind The Rollback

The two government resolutions drew strong criticism from the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, which includes Shiv Sena (UBT), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, and NCP (SP).

The decision to revoke them came shortly after Shiv Sena (UBT) staged statewide protests, including burning copies of the June 17 resolution in Mumbai.

Uddhav Thackeray clarified that the objection was to the forced imposition of Hindi, not the language itself.

Meanwhile, the committee led by Dr Narendra Jadhav has requested three months to submit its recommendations.

Joint Protest

With civic polls ahead, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had decided to unite in protest against what they called the “imposition" of Hindi in the state’s school curriculum, according to Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.

The two parties, led by Thackeray brothers (Uddhav and Raj), planned to lead a joint march in Mumbai opposing the government’s three-language policy, which initially included Hindi as a compulsory subject in primary schools.

Raut confirmed the plan on X, posting, “A united march will take place against the imposition of Hindi in schools in Maharashtra. Jai Maharashtra!"

MNS chief Raj Thackeray had earlier set the protest for July 6 but later moved it to July 5 to avoid a clash with the religious observance of Ashadhi Ekadashi.

However, the protest now stands cancelled.

Ronit Singh

Ronit Singh, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking News team. He has a keen focus on Indian politics and aims to cover unexplored angles. Ronit is an alumnus of Christ (Deemed to be...Read More

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