CHENNAI: School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said that the Union government cannot impose a three-language policy on Tamil Nadu and by following the two-language policy, the State has performed well.
The minister made these comments during the inauguration of a two-day Chennai Literacy festival in Kancheepuram.
Meanwhile, to make the public libraries are more inclusive, the minister announced Kibo XS Kit, a technological tool that allows one to listen to materials in audio format in 60 languages, while also translating them into over 100 languages.
The kit will further help in saving the material as MP3 audiobooks. And, such a kit has been made available to the district central libraries at the Chennai Literary Festival that commenced in Kancheepuram on Friday. The facility has been made available at an estimated cost of Rs 1.75 crore to enable the visually impaired to fully utilise library services.
Speaking at the event, the minister added, “All are free to learn the language of their choice. But, the Union government cannot impose Hindi in the name of a three-language policy on TN and non-Hindi speaking states.”
Meanwhile, the Union government has been depriving the TN School Education Department of funds under the Samagra Shiksha (SS) scheme. For TN, a fund of about Rs 3,586 crore was approved for the 2024-25 academic year, out of which Rs 1,434 crore is TN’s share, while Rs 2,152 crore is the Union government’s share.
And, due to withholding of funds due to the State, TN government is burdened with additional expenditures such as salary payments and implementation of various schemes.