The National Education Policy 2020 envisages continuation of the three-language formula, keeping in mind the Constitutional provisions, aspirations of the people, regions and Union. There will be greater flexibility in the three-language formula and no language will be imposed on any State, national president of Viswa Hindi Parishad Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad said.

Expressing dismay at the ongoing debate across the country on the possible imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking States, Mr. Lakshmi Prasad said at a press conference that those expressing such apprehensions have probably not read the 65-page NEP 2020 document of the Ministry of HRD. The document clearly states that the choice of the three languages would rest with the State, region and the student. But, two of the three languages should be native to India.

The NEP 2020 document also states that over 200 Indian languages were lost during the last 50 years due to neglect. UNESCO has declared 197 Indian languages as ‘endangered’. Various languages, which do not have a script, are in danger of becoming extinct. The NEP has underlined the need to integrate teaching and learning of Indian languages with school and higher education.

Mr. Lakshmi Prasad said that Mahatma Gandhi had advocated the use of Hindu during the Freedom Struggle to unite the people of the country. Hindi serves as an important link language when people from south go to the north, and outside India, English was important. But, neither Hindi nor English could be a substitute for one’s mother tongue. Learning an additional language would benefit the learner and not the language itself or to the region concerned. The Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha has the maximum students from Tamil Nadu, learning Hindi.

He recalled that former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and former Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu had made their mark in national politics as they were well-versed with Hindi. TDP founder and former Chief Minister NT Rama Rao had learnt Hindi at the age of 60, when he had to play a role in national politics. Similarly, the top Tamil actors like MGR, Jayalalitha and Rajanikanth were not from Tamil Nadu but had made their mark in Tamil films by learning Tamil. This shows that learning a new language benefits the individual but not the language or the region.

Mr. Lakshmi Prasad commended Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan for supporting the learning of Hindi as the third language. While all the 22 languages listed in the Constitution are equal, learning Hindi offers wider choices. Ravi Bachala from Dallas, Texas, and Kancherla Ramakrishna, from Michigan, were also present at the media conference.