Maharashtra is not anti-Hindi, but it should not be imposed on primary school students: Sharad Pawar

The people of Maharashtra are not anti-Hindi but it is not right to impose the language on students in primary schools, PTI quoted Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar as saying on Friday.

Mother tongue is more important during this age, the Opposition leader said.

Learning Hindi would be in the students’ interest after Class 5 as 55% of the people in India speak the language, he added.

Sharad Pawar’s remarks come amid a state-wide row, triggered by the Mahayuti government’s June 17 order making Hindi a “generally” taught third language for students in Class 1 to Class 5 across Marathi and English medium schools.