Sharad Pawar, a prominent leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, stated on Friday that the residents of Maharashtra are not opposed to Hindi, but imposing the language on primary school students is inappropriate. He emphasized the significance of a child's mother tongue during early education.

Pawar noted that learning Hindi would be beneficial for students after they reach Class 5, as approximately 55% of the Indian population speaks the language.

His comments come in response to a recent directive from the Mahayuti government, which on June 17 mandated that Hindi be taught as a third language for students in Classes 1 to 5 in both Marathi and English medium schools.

The Mahayuti coalition includes the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and the Nationalist Congress Party group under Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

According to the new policy, if a minimum of 20 students in a grade express interest in learning another Indian language, they can opt out of Hindi. In such cases, the school will either appoint a teacher or provide online instruction for the chosen language.

On Monday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis indicated that a conclusive decision regarding the three-language policy would be made after discussions with all relevant parties.

On Friday, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) announced plans for a joint protest against the three-language policy alongside Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on July 5.

When asked about the upcoming protest, Sharad Pawar remarked that if the Thackerays wish for all political factions to participate, they must clarify their position and specific plans regarding the matter.

Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party is part of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, which also includes the Congress and the Uddhav Sena.

The Mahayuti government has faced criticism over its language policy on two occasions this year.

On April 16, it announced plans to implement the 2020 National Education Policy starting from the academic year 2025-’26, which made Hindi compulsory as a third language for students in Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English medium schools, replacing the previous two-language system with a three-language formula.

On April 20, a language consultation committee appointed by the state government opposed the decision to mandate Hindi as a third language in primary education.

Subsequently, on April 22, the state government stayed its earlier order, stating that while the three-language policy would still be implemented, students would no longer be required to learn Hindi as their third language.

The three-language formula, which includes teaching students English, Hindi, and the native language of the state, was first introduced in the National Education Policy of 1968 and has been retained in the 2020 policy.