BENGALURU: The Centre on Tuesday cleared its stand before the Karnataka High Court that there is no mention of any compulsory language under the National Education Policy 2020. Additional Solicitor General MN Naragund, appearing for the Centre, submitted before a division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice SR Krishna Kumar that there is no mention of compulsory language in NEP 2020, and therefore, there is no need for re-articulation of provisions.
The submission was made during a hearing of a batch of public interest litigations by Samskrita Bharati (Karnataka) Trust, and other educational institutions, questioning making Kannada a compulsory language in NEP 2020. In the last hearing, the state government had contended that making Kannada a compulsory language was a policy decision in tune with the recommendations of the VK Gokak Committee report.
The Additional Solicitor General had submitted that making any language compulsory in any particular state on the basis of implementation of the NEP would have vast ramifications and as such, the government of India has to take a decision in consultation with the state government in this regard and hence, sought time to clear the stand of the Union government. Following the clarification, the hearing was adjourned for making submissions by the Advocate General on the next date.