India, April 24 -- The Maharashtra government, which had made the Hindi language mandatory in schools from Class 1, now seems to have softened its stance. After facing widespread criticism over its decision, the state government was forced to retract its decision. State school education minister Dada Bhuse on Wednesday said that the government resolution mentioning Hindi as mandatory will be withdrawn, and a new resolution will be issued soon.

"The new government resolution will omit the term "mandatory" in reference to Hindi," he said. Bhuse said that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 promotes a three-language policy, requiring two of the three languages taught to be Indian and there is no provision to impose any particular langu...