New Delhi, June 18 -- The Maharashtra government has mandated Hindi as a compulsory third language for students in Marathi and English medium schools from Classes 1 to 5.

However, advocates of the Marathi language have criticized the move, accusing the government of reviving the policy through the "backdoor" after previously withdrawing it, PTI reported.

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The Maharashtra School Education Department on Tuesday issued the order as part of the implementation of the 'State Curriculum Framework for School Education 2024', aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

According to the order, all students in classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and Eng...