Hindi vs Native Languages Debate Reveals India’s Hidden Crisis of Multilingualism
2 weeks, 5 days ago

Hindi vs Native Languages Debate Reveals India’s Hidden Crisis of Multilingualism

The Hindu  

Published : Mar 02, 2025 14:09 IST - 6 MINS READ The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K. Our history tells you that this two-language formula has helped us materially as we are economically better off than the “Hindi” regions like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. We do not have to go looking for livelihood in other States like the people from the “Hindi” regions who abound in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, etc. They are part of our syllabus across India but their serious readers are to be found in Europe!” Chief Minister Stalin has reminded the “Hindi” people that the Hindi being propagated as the national language has smothered scores of languages in the region we now know as the Hindi region. Or whether Braj speakers, who should range across the Indian states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh all identify themselves to Census enumerators as ‘Hindi speakers’.” Those who advise Stalin to let Hindi be taught as part of the three-language formula have never thought about why a language like Braj is not taught in our schools.

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History of this topic

Is learning Hindi as a third language necessary?
1 week, 1 day ago

Is learning Hindi as a third language necessary?

The Hindu  

The National Education Policy, 2020, encourages students up to at least Class 5 to learn a regional language in addition to the local language or mother tongue and English. While the Central government asserts that the choice of the additional regional language is left to the States, the NEP’s strong pitch for the three-language formula has led to fear, especially …

Three-language formula: Chhattisgarh offers an education case study
2 weeks, 2 days ago

Three-language formula: Chhattisgarh offers an education case study

Live Mint  

Growing up mostly in Bhopal, then the capital of undivided Madhya Pradesh, I was exposed to a range of language variants that we bundle between Hindi and Urdu, all of which I loved. One of the key ones was that Hindi was sanctified as a language and Chhattisgarhi ‘relegated’ to being its dialect. Many of us had internalized this hierarchy, …

Over 90% in Hindi-belt states speak only one language, rest of India is more bilingual: Data
2 weeks, 3 days ago

Over 90% in Hindi-belt states speak only one language, rest of India is more bilingual: Data

The Hindu  

The latest exchanges between Tamil Nadu and the Centre over Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan funds have reignited the long-standing language debate. Chart 3 shows the share of English speakers among native language speakers in 1991 and 2011. Chart 3 | The chart shows the share of English speakers among native language speakers A similar trend of declining or stagnating English proficiency …

The student and the three language debate
2 weeks, 5 days ago

The student and the three language debate

The Hindu  

In the rhetoric of partisan politics surrounding the three language formula, unsurprisingly, the most important stakeholder has been forgotten: the student. The critical question is this: is learning three languages essential to enable a child from a public school to compete with other more privileged candidates in the job market and become a productive, value-adding citizen? Fourth, it is not …

Hindi row: What is three-language formula in NEP and why does Tamil Nadu oppose it? Explained in 5 points
3 weeks, 1 day ago

Hindi row: What is three-language formula in NEP and why does Tamil Nadu oppose it? Explained in 5 points

Live Mint  

Tamil Nadu and the Centre are locked in a heated dispute, with the DMK government accusing the BJP-led NDA of attempting to impose Hindi language on the state through the three-language formula in the National Education Policy. The Hindi imposition row between the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre flared up when Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said he will withhold …

ThinkEdu Conclave 2025: Learning 3 languages essential in today’s times, says RSS Joint Gen Secy
1 month, 3 weeks ago

ThinkEdu Conclave 2025: Learning 3 languages essential in today’s times, says RSS Joint Gen Secy

New Indian Express  

CHENNAI: Though the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has no official stance on a two-language or three-language policy, it is of the view that modern times necessitate learning at least three languages: one’s mother tongue, a regional language, and a career language, said Mukunda CR, RSS Joint General Secretary here on Monday. In conversation with Ravi Shankar, Consulting Editor of The Sunday …

Shah: Hindi has an unbreakable bond with every Indian language
6 months, 1 week ago

Shah: Hindi has an unbreakable bond with every Indian language

Hindustan Times  

Hindi shares an “unbreakable bond” with local languages and there can never be a competition between Indian languages, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Saturday as he extended greetings for Hindi Diwas. Emphasising the connection between Hindi and all Indian languages, Shah said the country’s progress is intertwined with the enrichment of these languages. The official language Hindi has …

Hindi Diwas 2023: Five interesting facts about Hindi language you should know
1 year, 6 months ago

Hindi Diwas 2023: Five interesting facts about Hindi language you should know

India TV News  

Every year, on September 14th, India celebrates Hindi Diwas to commemorate the adoption of Hindustani, a dialect of Hindi, as the official language of India. To celebrate this special day, here are 5 interesting facts about the Hindi language you should know: 1. Due to Hindi's widespread use in India and its increasing role as an international language of communication, …

Recognising territorial links to languages essential for Indian federalism
2 years, 10 months ago

Recognising territorial links to languages essential for Indian federalism

The Hindu  

Historically, the symbiotic relationship of a language with the idea of a nation has been marked by much contestation across the world since the nineteenth century. At the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee held on April 8, 2022, Home Minister Amit Shah commented that in all the north-eastern States Hindi would be made compulsory until Class 10. …

DC EDIT | India has many languages
2 years, 10 months ago

DC EDIT | India has many languages

Deccan Chronicle  

The exchange between a Kannada and a Hindi film star on the popularity of their language was just another in a series of discussions on national languages that tend to go nowhere because of the complexity and numbers of India. It appears the reach of regional films in today’s high-tech environment is getting longer adding weight to the argument that …

Tamil Nadu rejects three-language formula in new NEP, will follow existing two-language policy
4 years, 7 months ago

Tamil Nadu rejects three-language formula in new NEP, will follow existing two-language policy

Firstpost  

Teaching the mother tongue or regional language upto Class 5 and lowering the stakes of board exams are part of the new reforms of the NEP unveiled last week **Chennai:**Strongly backing Tamil Nadu’s decades-old two-language policy, the ruling AIADMK in the state on Monday rejected the Centre’s three-language formula proposed in the new National Education Policy 2020 and said there …

Three-language formula: No language to be imposed on any state, assures HRD Ministry
4 years, 7 months ago

Three-language formula: No language to be imposed on any state, assures HRD Ministry

India Today  

The HRD Ministry or the Ministry of Education has put out a tweet stating that the three-language formula will continue to be implemented in schools “with greater flexibility” but that “no language will be imposed on any state”. It said that the “Constitutional provisions, aspirations of the people, regions, and the Union” would be kept in mind, along with “the …

Hindi push assault on diversity, India’s spirit
5 years, 6 months ago

Hindi push assault on diversity, India’s spirit

Deccan Chronicle  

On Hindi Divas, when Union home minister and BJP president Amit Shah gave an impassioned speech about the “need of our country to have one language, so that foreign languages don’t find a place”, one wonders why he use ‘languages’ in plural! Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of the Jan Sangh, which was the BJP’s predecessor, favoured Hindi but …

Hindi 'imposition' debate: Schools can play key role in promoting integration through 3-language formula
5 years, 6 months ago

Hindi 'imposition' debate: Schools can play key role in promoting integration through 3-language formula

Firstpost  

The language debate has again assumed significance in the light of remarks made by Home Minister Amit Shah. The constitutional position on the issue is straightforward and is found in Article 343, which states that the official language of the Union should be Hindi in the Devanagari script, along with English. States ideally should have had sole authority in determining …

On Hindi Diwas, Amit Shah pitches for ‘one nation, one language’
5 years, 6 months ago

On Hindi Diwas, Amit Shah pitches for ‘one nation, one language’

The Hindu  

Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday that the country should come together to promote Hindi. The Home Minister also said during the freedom struggle, the Congress conventions used to take place in different parts of the country and such initiatives empowered Hindi in those areas. PTI adds: Three-language formula should not be tinkered with: Congress Hours after Union minister …

What is the three-language formula?
5 years, 9 months ago

What is the three-language formula?

The Hindu  

The story so far: A 50-year-old controversy got a new lease of life recently when a paragraph in the Draft New Education Policy 2019 referred to the mandatory teaching of Hindi in States where Hindi is not spoken. This was a reiteration of the Central government’s three-language formula, but it set off a storm in Tamil Nadu, which stoutly opposes …

Hindi or English, comparing apples and oranges
5 years, 9 months ago

Hindi or English, comparing apples and oranges

The Hindu  

True to their well-earned reputation, the people of Tamil Nadu have once again stood up against attempts to ‘promote’ Hindi in non-Hindi States. The three-language formula under the draft National Education Policy, now modified, stipulated mother tongue and English compulsory everywhere till class X, and Hindi in non-Hindi States and non-Hindi languages in Hindi States to be taught. One might …

Hindi should become third language in the south for economic advantages it provides, not through patronage or propaganda
5 years, 9 months ago

Hindi should become third language in the south for economic advantages it provides, not through patronage or propaganda

Firstpost  

After attempts were made to replace English with Hindi as the link or bridge language to unify the nation, there was a massive backlash from the south and the Indira Gandhi-led government introduced amendments to the Official Languages Act, 1963. Amid objections over Hindi being made a compulsory language in all non-Hindi speaking states, the Ministry of Human Resource Development …

Crisis defused: on Hindi imposition
5 years, 9 months ago

Crisis defused: on Hindi imposition

The Hindu  

The Centre has moved quickly to defuse a potentially volatile controversy over the charge of Hindi imposition. The reference in the newly unveiled draft National Education Policy to mandatory teaching of Hindi in all States was withdrawn following an outcry from political leaders in Tamil Nadu, a State that is quite sensitive to any hint of ‘Hindi imposition’ by the …

Smriti isn't completely wrong: Teaching German is against National Education Policy
10 years, 4 months ago

Smriti isn't completely wrong: Teaching German is against National Education Policy

Firstpost  

German would have had no place in the 3-language formula evolved in 1968 to promote national integration. However, Irani is surely right in affirming that teaching German as the third language is not quite in the spirit of the National Education Policy of 1968 which specifies what the three-language formula is about. Briefly stated, that policy said that schools will …

Three-language formula not implemented effectively: MHA
10 years, 7 months ago

Three-language formula not implemented effectively: MHA

The Hindu  

August 06, 2014 05:17 pm | Updated 05:17 pm IST - NEW DELHI: Implementation of the Centre’s Three-Language Formula for schools all over the country has been uneven owing to various interpretations of the formula by different States. “In many of the Hindi speaking States Sanskrit became the third language instead of any modern regional language, whereas the non-Hindi speaking …

Efforts on to develop all official languages: Rajnath Singh
10 years, 8 months ago

Efforts on to develop all official languages: Rajnath Singh

India TV News  

New Delhi: All efforts will be made to encourage national language and the government directs various departments from time to time to enhance use of Hindi, the Lok Sabha was informed today. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said there is no reason for the government not to encourage the use of Hindi in official work and it is making efforts to …

Treat all languages equally, save linguistic diversity
10 years, 9 months ago

Treat all languages equally, save linguistic diversity

Firstpost  

All languages in this country should be treated as equal and state government should get the freedom to decide in what language they want to interact with central government instead of limiting option to just two languages. By Kanva While Modi is free to talk in whatever language he wishes to, at the same time his government should ensure that …

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