Dharmendra Pradhan in TN: 'Centre not imposing any language on states'

A week after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Hindi had no competition with any other Indian languages, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, while addressing an event in Chennai on Sunday (September 21) said that the Centre doesn’t have any plans to impose any language on anybody.

Pradhan also took a dig at those who allege that the BJP-led central government imposes a three-language policy on states as “politically motivated”.

'Not imposing any language on anybody'

“We are not imposing any language on anybody. For Classes 1 and 2, there will be a two-language formula. One will be the mother tongue. Here, it will be Tamil language. The Government of India's condition is that you have to teach in Tamil in primary school. You can teach another language, that is your choice,” the minister said.

Also read: TVK slams Shah’s Hindi Diwas message: ‘giving primacy to one language authoritarian’

He was speaking to the media in the presence of Professor V Kamakoti, the director of IIT Madras, Chennai, after participating in the 'Think India Dakshinapatha Summit 2025' at the prestigious institution.

IIT Madras has been a leading force in spurring the growth of innovation and entrepreneurship in India.

Had insightful discussions with young innovators and entrepreneurs getting incubation support from the IIT Madras Research Park. We interacted about the challenges and how… pic.twitter.com/Jij7PpK4jE

— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) September 21, 2025

Elaborating on the three-language policy, the education minister said from Class VI to X, there is a three-language formula. “One language will be the mother tongue. The rest two will be your choice. No language will be imposed by the Government of India on any State,” he said.

Also read: Hindi Diwas 2025: Modi, Shah hail Hindi language

'Students in UP can learn Tamil too'

To a question on how the three-language policy is being implemented in a state such as Uttar Pradesh, he said, "We are implementing it in that state also. Many state governments, forget BJP-ruled states, are implementing the three-language policy, prior to the National Education Policy.”

“In Uttar Pradesh, a student will learn Hindi as their mother tongue. After that, they may opt for learning Marathi and Tamil also. Some students in UP can take Tamil as a third language. UP government has to provide the facility to teach Tamil,” Pradhan added.

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Pointing out that only 10 per cent of India's population speaks English, he said the rest of the population prefers to speak in their mother tongue.

Pradhan also quoted Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s past comment that he would encourage Telugu-speaking students to learn as many as 10 languages so that every Telugu boy would become ‘globally competitive’ and they would be proficient in different languages.

'Language a facilitator'

“Language is always a facilitator. Those with politically narrow ideas are creating this problem,” he said.

Referring to his past visits to Tamil Nadu, Pradhan said, “I have toured all parts of Tamil Nadu. It is essentially a linguistic State. I am Odia. I am very proud of my Odia language. But I am also proud of other Indian languages."

Also read: CM MK Stalin unveils TN's state education policy; snubs NEP's 3-language rule

“With full responsibility, I am telling you today, those who want to create this language division have failed. The society is moving way ahead of them,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)