All Local Languages Are National Languages Under National Education Policy, Says Govt

Amid the national language controversy, the Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that all local languages in the country are national languages under the new National Education Policy, which was formulated to give importance to all of them.

"The local languages are no less important than any other languages used in this country, be it Hindi or English. This is the main feature of this NEP," Pradhan said at the 27th convocation of North East Hill University (NEHU).

All languages are national languages

The NEP was formulated to give importance to all local languages. "Under the new policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mandated that all languages are national languages. So Garo, Khasi, Jaintia (local languages in Meghalaya) are national languages,¡± he said.

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Pradhan, who distributed awards and certificates at the convocation, asked the students who graduated to be job creators and contribute positively to society. Nearly 16,000 students graduated from NEHU on Saturday.

Pradhan said, ¡°You have studied till this point because of the society's contribution. Now the time has come to become catalysts and to be job providers ... Every student has to contribute to society. I urge you to do something fruitful. Be a contributor.¡±

PM Modi says ¡°language diversity is the pride of India¡±

On May 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that language diversity is the pride of the country, but attempts are being made to spark controversies over it.

¡°In the past few days, we have seen that attempts are being made to spark controversies on the basis of languages. The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) sees a reflection of Indian culture in every regional language and considers them worth worshipping¡­ It is a link to the country¡¯s better future,¡± said Modi while virtually addressing party members on the inaugural day of the two-day national meeting of BJP office-bearers at Jaipur.

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Noting that the National Education Policy (NEP) has given importance to all regional languages, Modi said, ¡°This shows our commitment to regional languages.¡±

Modi¡¯s remarks come amid an ongoing debate over whether Hindi should be considered India¡¯s national language.

Last month, Union home minister Amit Shah, who is the chairman of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee, told members that 70% of the agenda of the Union cabinet was now prepared in Hindi.

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