Satara, June 26 -- Amid the ongoing debate over the Maharashtra government's alleged move to make Hindi compulsory across all classes starting from Standard 1, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday voiced his reservations about the proposal.

Speaking to reporters during his visit to Satara district, Pawar said that while Hindi is widely spoken across the country, it should not be forced upon young students, especially at the primary level.

"My view is that Hindi should not be made compulsory in primary education. There is no issue with children learning Hindi after Class 5. But we must analyse how many languages a child of a certain age can realistically learn and what linguistic burden that places on them," Paw...