NEP follows 'New Talim' of Mahatma Gandhi, says M. Venkaiah Naidu

New Education Policy follows the ‘Nai Talim’ of Mahatma Gandhi by giving importance to the mother tongue as the medium of instruction at the school level, said M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President during Silver Jubilee Celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University in Warda, Maharashtra.

Naidu said that our Constituent Assembly, after a long debate, accepted Hindi as the official language and also accorded constitutional status to other Indian languages in the Eighth Schedule. Noting that every Indian language has a glorious history and rich literature, he said "We are fortunate to have linguistic diversity in our country. Our linguistic diversity is our strength as our languages symbolize our cultural unity."

Referring to Mahatma Gandhi's views on



language, the Vice President said that for Mahatma Gandhi, the question of language was a question of national unity.

He further observed that even after insisting on Hindi, Mahatma Gandhi understood the sensitivity of every citizen to his mother tongue. Gandhiji associated his mother tongue with Swaraj and called for it according to due importance to it, he said.

He also said that Indian languages have played an important role in keeping the overseas Indian community connected with the motherland, India.

The Vice President said that it is expected of a civilized society that its language should be gentle, cultured, and creative. "Let us exercise our freedom of expression with the decency of language and the discipline of words,” he said.