Overview

• The Union education minister said the Centre is not forcing any tongue and outlined NEP’s structure of two languages in Classes 1–2 and three in Classes 6–10 with the mother tongue included.
• He stated that Samagra Shiksha funds will be released only after states sign the required MoU, arguing Tamil Nadu should not place political priorities above students’ interests.
• To illustrate flexibility, he said a student in Uttar Pradesh could learn Hindi as the mother tongue and choose Tamil, Marathi or English as additional languages if the state provides instruction.
• He contended that roughly 10% of Indians speak English and accused DMK critics of creating a fear psychosis over the three‑language framework.
• He noted meetings with Tamil Nadu leaders and pledged cooperation on RTE and other schemes, as the state pursues legal action to recover about ₹2,000 crore it says is withheld under Samagra Shiksha.