MUMBAI, Nov. 4 -- The Narendra Jadhav Committee, appointed by the state government to review and recommend changes to Maharashtra's three-language policy, has observed growing dissatisfaction among citizens after holding public meetings in Ratnagiri, Kolhapur and Nagpur. Many participants said that while they supported the idea of learning three languages, the policy should begin from Class 5 instead of Class 1. Committee chairman Prof Narendra Jadhav said the response from the public and stakeholders had been "tremendous", with citizens showing keen interest in shaping the policy. "People are generally supportive of introducing three languages but prefer it to start from Class 5 rather than Class 1," he said. "Even after Class 5, many have suggested that Hindi should not be imposed and that students should be given the freedom to choose other languages." The committee is currently collecting online feedback from various stakeholders, including parents, teachers and education experts. Jadhav said that five more meetings remained to be held across different regions of Maharashtra. "Once all public meetings are completed and online responses are analysed, we will finalise our report. We are working to meet the December 5 deadline given by the government," he added. Jadhav also said that citizens had appreciated the committee's efforts to seek public opinion before implementing major education reforms. "People are admiring this initiative and expect the government to conduct such consultations regularly before framing any new policy," he said. The Jadhav Committee was formed earlier this year to prepare a comprehensive language policy in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. On October 8, the committee released a public questionnaire, inviting feedback from citizens, institutions and stakeholders in the field of education. The responses will help the committee frame its final recommendations to the state government. The state's decision on April 16 to make Marathi, English and Hindi compulsory from Classes 1 to 5 had drawn criticism....