Punjab Education Minister Pargat Singh on October 20 said that it is "unfortunate" that Punjabi has been sidelined and kept out of the list of main subjects in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examination dates for Class 10 and Class 12.

Singh even went on to call the decision by the CBSE to include all regional languages in the minor subjects category as a "conspiracy to wean students away from their mother tongue". The minister has asked the central board to reconsider its decision. He even went as far as to term the move as gross injustice to the students of Punjab and said it is in total contravention to the spirit of the Indian Constitution.

“At least in the states concerned, the respective mother tongues should be included in the list of main subjects. If need be, I would demand a roll back of the decision from the Union Education Minister,” Singh said. The CBSE offers several languages as subjects to students of Class 10 and above. These include Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Sindhi, Marathi, Gujarati, Manipuri, Malayalam, Odia, Assamese, Kannada, Arabic, Tibetan, French, German, Persian, Telugu, Tangkhul, Japanese, Bhutia, Spanish, Mizo, Bodo and Bahasa Melayu.

On October 19, the CBSE issued a date sheet for the Term-1 examination of Class 10 and Class 12. The exam will begin on November 30. However, the exam schedule has been released for major subjects only. The board said, “The date sheet of minor subjects will be provided to the schools separately.”