Won't Accept NEP Even If Centre Offers Rs 10,000 Crore To Tamil Nadu: MK Stalin

Tamil Nadu will not implement National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the state’s Chief Minister MK Stalin said. Even if the Centre offered to provide Rs 10,000 crore in funds to the state, Tamil Nadu will continue its opposition to the NEP as it is only due to the “imposition of Hindi” in the state, MK Stalin said but also because of other factors that could impact the future of students.

Addressing a Parent-Teachers Association event in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore, MK Stalin said, “We are not opposed to any language but will remain firm in opposing its imposition. We are not opposing the NEP only for the attempt to thrust Hindi but for several other reasons as well. The NEP is regressive. It will drive students away from schools.”

The row over the implementation of the policy in Tamil Nadu escalated as MK Stalin wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, complaining that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan threatened to withhold Rs 2,000 crore for a centrally sponsored initiative, the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, unless Tamil Nadu implemented the NEP.

Read more: ‘Rise Above Political Differences’: Centre, Stalin Square Off In NEP Row

“The Centre says Tamil Nadu will get Rs 2,000 crore if the state implements the NEP. I wish to say that we will not agree to the NEP even if the Centre offers Rs 10,000 crore. I will not allow the NEP and commit the sin of pushing Tamil Nadu backwards by 2,000 years,” MK Stalin said.

MK Stalin earlier said, “The policy was brought to nurture Hindi and not education. It’s camouflaged in the name of education policy as it would be opposed if done directly”

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in his letter to MK Stalin that there was “no question of imposing any language upon any state or community” as linguistic freedom remains a core principle of the policy. He further wrote, “The continued opposition to NEP 2020 for political reasons deprives students, teachers, and educational institutions in Tamil Nadu of the immense opportunities and resources that this policy offers.”