After outrage, Maharashtra withdraws Hindi as 3rd language in schools

After massive outrage, the Maharashtra Government Sunday June 29, 2025 reversed its decision to make Hindi as default third language in Marathi and English Medium Primary Schools

Mumbai: After massive outrage, the Maharashtra Government Sunday June 29, 2025 reversed its decision to make Hindi as default third language in Marathi and English Medium Primary Schools.

Addressing a press conference a day before the Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra Assembly which begins on Monday June 30, 2025, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said his government’s language policy will always be “Marathi centric”.

The Maharashtra government had earlier issued two GRs – one on April 16 and the other on June 17, 2025.

In the first GR issued on April 16, 2025, Hindi language was made “mandatory” for students of classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English medium schools.

After protests from the opposition parties, the government in a revised GR issued on June 17, 2025, the word “compulsory” was removed.

But, the modified GR too failed to pacify the opposition parties – especially Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray’s MNS that announced to burn the GR copies and take out protest marches across the state from July 05, 2025 against what they called “forced imposition of Hindi language in schools”.

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