Key Points

"Maharashtra is a leading state in the country. Other states follow Maharashtra. Therefore, regarding the implementation of the three-language policy, the committee will take into public opinion and make its recommendations in the interest of students," he declared after charging the first meeting of the committee established by the state government to formulate a trilingual policy in line with the National Education Policy 2020.

Jadhav said that a website will be created for the trilingual policy in the next 15 days and a link will be created in it on which all the common citizens, parents, students and others can express their views.

After being appointed as the chairman of the committee, information related to the trilingual policy was collected and it has been made available to the members during the Wednesday meeting and it will be discussed in the next meeting.

Two types of questionnaires will be prepared in the next few days, one questionnaire will be for everyone and the another for various institutions related to the Marathi language. Anyone can answer it by going to the link of this questionnaire. This questionnaire will be sent to all schools, colleges, public representatives, parents," he added.

Jadhav said that he will meet various political leaders who have expressed their views on this subject in person in the next 15 days and understand their stance.

Jadhav said that he will visit Sambhajinagar (October 8), Nagpur (October 10), Kolhapur (October 30), Ratnagiri (October 31), Nashik (November 11), Pune (November 13), Solapur (November 21) and Mumbai in the last week of November to gauge public opinion.

During these visits, the committee will understand the views of people from varied sections on this issue.

"The committee will also study the implementation of the trilingual formula in other states. After discussing with everyone in the state, the committee will try to submit its report to the government by December 5. The committee will make a sincere effort to prepare the best report in the interest of 2.12 crore students in the state," he said.

Earlier, the government on September 5 released a government resolution on the formation of a committee headed by the former Planning Commission member Narendra Jadhav to determine the trilingual policy in schools in the state in line with the National Education Policy 2020.

The government issued the government resolution as per its decision taken on June 30 during the row over the introduction of Hindi language along with Marathi and English for classes 1 to 5.

The government decided to constitute Dr Narendra Jadhav committee after it cancelled two resolutions on the three-language policy for schools afterShiv Sena UBT, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Congress and NCP SP strongly criticised the government's attempt at "Hindi imposition" in the state.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced: "We have decided that a committee will be formed under the leadership of educationist Dr Narendra Jadhav to determine from which standard the languages should be implemented, how the implementation should take place, and what choices should be given 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."

The June 17 GR stated that Hindi "generally" the third language, and not mandatory, for Classes 1 to 5 in English and Marathi medium schools. It came after the Fadnavis government had issued a GR on April 16, making Hindi a compulsory third language for students in classes 1 to 5 studying in English and Marathi medium schools. The second GR reopened the 'Hindi imposition' row, which refers to claims by non-Hindi-speaking states - that Hindi is being forced on non-native speakers to the detriment of their languages.

- IANS