Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today, Monday, September 9, called out Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and accused him of trying to pit states against each other to make a point about the non-implementation of the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
"Healthy competition amongst the states is always welcome in a democracy. However, pitting states against each other to make a point goes against the spirit of the Constitution and the value of a unified India. NEP 2020 was formulated through a wide range of consultations and has the collective wisdom of the people of India," Pradhan wrote on social media platform X.
Pradhan in his X post responded to the allegations of Stalin, who in an early post said that the Central government had denied the Samagra Shiksha funds to states for refusing to bow to the NEP.
CM Stalin today, September 9, morning wrote, "Denying funds to the best-performing states for refusing to bow to the #NEP, while generously rewarding those who are not delivering on the objectives – Is this how the Union BJP Government plans to promote quality education and equity? I leave it to the wisdom of our nation and our people to decide!.”
Pradhan questioned Stalin on the state's "principled" opposition to NEP.
"Are you opposing education in your mother tongue, including Tamil? Are you opposing the conduct of exams in Indian languages including Tamil? Are you opposing the creation of textbooks and content in Indian languages including Tamil? Are you opposed to the holistic, multi-disciplinary, equitable, futuristic and inclusive framework of NEP?" he questioned.
On September 8, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar appealed to states to adopt NEP and emphasised the importance of mother tongue in education.
