Madras HC asks what harm in making Hindi the third-language

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday asked what the difficulty is in making Hindi the third language in educational institutions. The court noted that if one does not learn Hindi, it would be difficult for them to secure a job in North India, PTI reported.

The Madras High Court first bench of Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) M N Bhandari and Justice P D Audikesavalu was hearing a PIL plea seeking the full implementation of New Education Policy 2020 of the Union government. Petitioner Arjunan Elayaraja, secretary of the NGO Aalamaram in Cuddalore district, pleaded with the court to direct authorities to implement the NEP 2020 in Tamil Nadu with the amendments suggested by Supreme Court in various cases regarding the issue. The petitioner brought multiple cases of individuals in the state who were not hired for jobs in the north just because they don't know Hindi.

The ACJ said there is no difficulty for natives in taking jobs in Tamil Nadu since they know the Tamil Language, but they would face trouble outside the state. He said that one of his brother judges didn't get a job in the Airports Authority of India because he didn't know Hindi. Not learning Hindi is the biggest drawback of people of Tamil Nadu, he added.

When Advocate-General R Shanmugasundaram stated that people of the state are free to learn Hindi through institutions such as Hindi Prachar Sabha, but ACJ replied that learning is different from teaching.

Shanmugasundaram said that Tamil Nadu is following the two language policy, with Tamil and English, but ACJ questioned it, asking what harm in introducing three language policy with Hindi. He, however, added that the option for selecting languages must be provided. Shanmugasundaram but further argued that a three-language policy would burden students.

The court admitted Arjunan Elayaraja's plea and ordered the issuance of notice to the authorities concerned, ordering replies to be submitted in eight weeks.