Friday, 25 April 2025
Friday, 25 April 2025
Parliament witnessed heated exchanges and protests on Monday after Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan accused the Tamil Nadu government of being 'dishonest' regarding the implementation of the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme.
The remark led to strong objections from DMK members, resulting in the adjournment of Lok Sabha proceedings for about 30 minutes.
PM SHRI scheme: A political power play?
During a discussion on the PM SHRI scheme, Pradhan alleged that the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government had agreed to sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) but later backtracked.
"The Tamil Nadu government had initially agreed to sign the MoU. But now they have changed the stand. Many non-BJP-ruled states, including Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, have signed the agreement," the Union minister said.
Pradhan further accused the state government of playing politics at the cost of students. "They are dishonest and they are ruining the future of the students of Tamil Nadu. They are doing politics. Suddenly, some super CM appeared, and they took a U-turn. They just want to do politics," he remarked.
With March 31 as the deadline to sign the MoU, Pradhan pointed out that "Today is March 10. We still have 20 days left in the month of March," leaving the door open for the state government to reconsider its decision.
DMK members registered their protest with slogans against the central government, leading to the House being adjourned till 12 noon.
When the session resumed, DMK MP Kanimozhi condemned Pradhan’s remarks. "The Union Education Minister called our government, people, and Parliamentarians from Tamil Nadu liars. He hurt our feelings and Tamil Nadu's pride by calling us uncivilised. We condemn this strongly."
She emphasised that Tamil Nadu communicated its opposition to the National Education Policy (NEP) to the Centre multiple times. "We have clearly said that we have issues with the NEP and we cannot accept it in full. We said that the three-language formula is not acceptable to Tamil Nadu," the MP stated.
Kanimozhi pointed out that Stalin had written to both the Union Minister and the Prime Minister, reiterating the state's stance and requesting the release of education funds.
Kanimozhi accused the Centre of using funds as leverage to push Tamil Nadu into accepting the NEP. "DMK MPs raised the issue that the Union government has not released funds for Tamil Nadu, saying that unless the state government agrees to sign the NEP and the three-language policy, funds worth more than Rs 2,000 crore won't be released for schools," she said.
DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran accused Pradhan of misrepresenting facts. "Dharmendra Pradhan lied by saying that the DMK government had agreed (to sign NEP). DMK never agreed to NEP or the three-language policy," he said.
"Why should our students in Tamil Nadu learn three languages, whereas students from North India learn only one? We are not against Hindi… if there are students who want to learn Hindi, they are free to do so, but it should not be compulsory," Maran added.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram supported the DMK's position. "Tamil Nadu is very clear. We are very well served by a two-language policy... English and Tamil are more than adequate," he said.
Chidambaram also pointed out that language acquisition happens naturally when needed. "Thousands of workers from North India come to Tamil Nadu for work. We welcomed them, but none of them had learned Tamil previously… The same way, if a person from Tamil Nadu has to speak exclusively in Hindi, they will pick it up. There is no need to make it compulsory."
BJP leader Tamilisai Soundarajan defended the Centre's position and accused the DMK of depriving Tamil Nadu’s poor students of opportunities.
