Centre 'blackmailing' Tamil Nadu on three-language policy says DMK MP

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) DMK MP Kalanidhi Veeraswamy on Monday accused the Centre of "blackmailing" Tamil Nadu by withholding funds in an attempt to force it to implement the three-language formula under the National Education Policy.
    Raising the issue during a debate on the Finance Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha, the Chennai North MP alleged that the Centre had stalled the release of Rs 2,152 crore for Tamil Nadu's education sector, making it conditional on the adoption of the three-language formula prescribed under the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.
    "It (Centre) has been blackmailing the state government to introduce NEP. Our chief minister has made it abundantly clear that even if you give Rs 10,000 crore, we will not implement the three-language policy," he asserted.
    The DMK MP also slammed the Centre for imposing a language policy that, he claimed, was unfairly weighted against the southern states.
    "It talks about a three-language policy but why do most MPs from the north not speak English? It wants the south to learn three languages but people in the north know only Hindi," he said.
    Tamil Nadu has long adhered to a two-language policy, a stance Veerswamy said had not hindered its economic progress.
    He also touched upon broader economic issues, likening the implementation of GST to "tax terrorism".
    He alleged businesses were being harassed through arbitrary taxation measures, including an 18 per cent GST on essential services. "This government is trying to make money even out of people's misery."
    Veeraswamy further accused the Centre of misusing probe agencies for political and financial gain through electoral bonds.
    He said, "The concept of electoral bonds has been nothing but an extortion scheme. Every time data was revealed, we saw a pattern -- businesses faced enforcement raids and then ended up purchasing electoral bonds."
    Citing concerns over India's economic trajectory, Veeraswamy questioned the prime minister's "Viksit Bharat" vision.
    "To be a developed nation, the per capita income should be around USD 15,000. India's current per capita income is only about USD 2,900 while Tamil Nadu's stands at USD 4,000. At this rate, claiming India will soon be developed is nothing but misleading the public," he said.
    Veeraswamy also urged Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP and other members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) "to reflect on promises during the delimitation process".

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)