India, Feb. 21 -- Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday stressed that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 "upholds the principle of linguistic freedom" and "does not advocate the imposition of any language" on states, amid an ongoing political slugfest between the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government over the three-language formula.

His statement comes a day after Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging the central government to release Rs.2,152 crore of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) funds for 2024-25 for "cooperative federalism" and "welfare" of students, adding that their stand on two language formula is "non-negotiable".

In a 10-point response to Stalin's letter, Pradhan a...