MUMBAI, June 29: Amid mounting criticism over the perceived imposition of Hindi in Maharashtra’s school curriculum, the state cabinet on Sunday rolled back two government resolutions (GRs) that mandated Hindi as a compulsory language from Classes 1 to 5. The decision was announced by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ahead of the monsoon session of the state legislature.
Addressing a press conference, Fadnavis said a new committee, led by noted educationist Dr Narendra Jadhav, will now review the implementation of the three-language policy and submit its report within three months. The state government will take a fresh decision based on the panel’s findings.
“The GRs issued in April and June stand withdrawn,” said Fadnavis. “We will implement the policy only after receiving inputs from the Jadhav committee. The aim is to ensure any language policy serves the interest of Marathi-speaking students and strengthens their academic credit framework.”
The earlier April 16 GR had made Hindi mandatory for students from Classes 1 to 5 in English and Marathi medium schools. Following political uproar, it was amended on June 17, making Hindi an optional third language. However, opposition parties, including Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS, and NCP (SP), slammed the move as cultural overreach and announced a joint march scheduled for July 5, which has now been cancelled following the rollback.
Fadnavis countered criticism by pointing to the Mashelkar Committee, formed during Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure as Chief Minister, which in its 2021 report had recommended the introduction of Marathi, English, and Hindi from Classes 1 to 12 as part of the National Education Policy (NEP).
“The Thackeray government did not reject the Mashelkar report; in fact, it formed a sub-group to act on its recommendations,” said Fadnavis. “The current GRs were a continuation of that process.”
He also took a swipe at Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray. “Raj was nowhere in the picture when the Mashelkar committee submitted its report. Uddhav is now opposing the same recommendations his government initiated,” he remarked.
Fadnavis went on to quote Dr B.R. Ambedkar in support of Hindi, asserting that Ambedkar believed in embracing Hindi as a unifying national language. “Babasaheb had said that anyone who doesn’t accept this proposal may be 100 per cent Maharashtrian but not Indian in the real sense,” he said, quoting from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches.
Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde were also present at the briefing. Pawar appealed to Marathi citizens not to participate in the cancelled march, while Shinde said, “Our decision has no ego. We are acting in the best interest of students.”
The new Narendra Jadhav committee will now re-examine the Mashelkar panel’s report and decide whether the three-language formula should begin from Class 1 or a higher grade. Other committee members will be named in the coming days.
With the political rhetoric cooling and the policy now under review, the state has signaled a pause in implementation while reaffirming its commitment to linguistic balance and educational equity.
