No saffronisation of education, asserts Pradhan; says all Indian languages equally important

INDORE: Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday dismissed allegations that the BJP-led government at the Centre was saffronising the education system and said the new policy for the sector unveiled in 2020 encourages teaching in mother tongue and it was also employment-oriented.

Pradhan also insisted the government considers all Indian languages, including Hindi, as “National Languages” and gives them equal importance. “Is it saffronisation to encourage studies in the mother tongue in which the citizens of the country speak and hear? Is it saffronisation to make the Indian education policy employment-oriented?” he told reporters while replying to a question on the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP).

Without naming anyone, Pradhan said some people have their “own viewpoint” on the NEP. The minister said the NEP was framed on the basis of suggestions received from all sections of the society and they agreed on its content. Pradhan claimed some people are creating "confusion" on the NEP for “political reasons”. The government considers all Indian languages as national languages and accords full respect to all of them, he said in the backdrop of a row over the issue. “Hindi is our Rajbhasha (for government work) and is an important language. But, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannad, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Punjabi, Odia, Bengali, Assamese and other Indian languages are also equally important. All these languages unite the country,” Pradhan said.

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Asked about the future of students who have returned from Ukraine following its invasion of Russia in February, the education minister said, “We will certainly find a way out for these students.” On the issue of rising prices of essential commodities, Pradhan termed it as a “global challenge.” “At a time when the world economy was coming back on track and India's economy was moving towards a GDP rate of 7-8 per cent after the coronavirus pandemic ebbed, the Russia-Ukraine war started...it has especially raised the prices of commodities. This inflation has impacted India also,” he said. Prior to talking to reporters, Pradhan addressed intellectuals on the topic “Saksham aur Vaibhavshali Bharat ke Nirman me nai Shiksha Neeti” (Role of the New Education Policy in Making a Competent and Magnificent India) and stated that in the NEP, a special emphasis has been given on studies in Indian languages. “Due to British rule, a thinking emerged that if we make English a medium of education, then we will be called elitist...then only India will become a powerful country in the world,” he said.

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Pradhan insisted on teaching subjects like physics, chemistry and biology in regional languages. However, he clarified that the government has no objection if an Indian student wants to pursue education in English.