'UBT-backed Mashelkar panel pushed for Hindi': Milind Deora fires back at Uddhav Sena, shares committee report

Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora on Monday accused the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) of political double standards over the Hindi language row in Maharashtra, citing their own backing for a 2021 draft policy that proposed making Hindi a compulsory subject from Class 1 to 12.

"The UBT-backed Mashelkar Committee recommended making Hindi compulsory from Std I–XII. In Worli, it's ‘Kem Cho’; in government, it's Hindi. But 'Marathi' & the 'Marathi Manoos' matter to them only in opposition. Double standards & how!” Deora posted on X.

Along with his statement, Deora shared a draft report titled Annexures to the Report of The Task Force for Implementation of NEP 2020 in Maharashtra October 2020 – June 2021. The document recommends three major policy steps, one of which states: "At the same time, teaching of English and Hindi as second language should be made compulsory right from 1st standard to 12th standard (or equivalent), and if necessary also during three/four years of college education."

The remarks come a day after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray took credit for the Maharashtra government's decision to withdraw two government resolutions (GRs) that would have introduced Hindi as the third language in schools for Classes 1 to 5. The announcement came after a joint protest planned by the Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which was later cancelled after the state backtracked on the orders.

Thackeray had declared the rollback a "victory of the Marathi manoos". "The government lost to the power of Marathi manoos. It didn't realise Marathi manoos would unite in this manner,” he said during a press conference on Sunday. Referring to the planned protest, he added, "This awakening of the Marathi manoos should stay."

The former chief minister alleged that the BJP-led state government intended to divide Marathi and non-Marathi communities and bag votes through a hidden agenda. “The crisis had to withdraw when the Marathi people stay united,” he said. 

However, BJP leaders and now Deora have pushed back, accusing the Thackeray faction of hypocrisy. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier claimed that it was Uddhav Thackeray himself who had accepted the recommendations of the Dr Raghunath Mashelkar committee to implement the three-language policy across schools.

Thackeray denied approving any such move during his tenure, saying that “experts on primary education were not members of the Mashelkar Committee." He added: "The panel gave its report and a study group was formed to examine its implementation under my chairmanship. But later my government was toppled so there was no meeting of the study group, nor was there a chance to study the discussion of the committee. I did not see the committee report."

Meanwhile, the state government has announced the formation of a new panel under educationist Narendra Jadhav to suggest the way forward on language policy. The committee has been given three months to submit its report.