New Delhi (PTI): The three-language formula proposed in the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, is at the centre of the political row between the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government and the central government. Here is an explainer of what the formula is:

1. What is three-language formula?

The three-language formula in NEP 2020 recommends that students learn three languages, at least two of which must be native to India. This formula applies to both government and private schools, giving states the flexibility to choose languages without any imposition.

2. What is the history of three-language formula?

The formula was first proposed by the Education Commission (1964-66), officially known as the Kothari Commission. It was formally adopted in the National Policy on Education (NPE) 1968 under then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The policy was reaffirmed in NPE 1986 under PM Rajiv Gandhi and revised in 1992 by Narasimha Rao’s Congress government to promote linguistic diversity and national unity.

The formula included three languages — mother tongue or regional language, official language and a modern Indian or European language.

3. What does NEP 2020 say about three-language formula?

The NEP proposes an "early implementation of the three-language formula to promote multilingualism" from the school level. The document states that the three-language formula will continue to be implemented "while keeping in mind the Constitutional provisions, aspirations of the people, regions, and the Union, and the need to promote multilingualism as well as promote national unity."

However, the NEP also states that there will be greater flexibility in the three-language formula, and no language will be imposed on any state. The policy states that the three languages learned by children will be the choices of states, regions, and of course, the students themselves, so long as at least two of the three languages are native to India.

4. What about foreign languages?

According to NEP 2020, in addition to Indian languages and English, students at the secondary level can also learn Korean, Japanese, French, German and Spanish, among other foreign languages.

5. What is Tamil Nadu's opposition?

The state has historically opposed the three-language formula. In 1937, the then Madras government, headed by C Rajagopalachari, introduced compulsory Hindi in schools. This move sparked widespread protests by the Justice Party and Dravidian leaders like Periyar. The policy was revoked in 1940, but anti-Hindi sentiments persisted.

When the three-language formula was introduced in 1968, Tamil Nadu opposed it, seeing it as an attempt to impose Hindi. Under Chief Minister C N Annadurai, the state adopted a two-language policy, teaching only Tamil and English. Tamil Nadu remains the only state that has never implemented the three-language formula, choosing English over Indian languages, including Hindi and other regional languages.

6. What is the fresh trigger?

Tamil Nadu's refusal to implement key aspects of NEP 2020, particularly the three-language formula, has resulted in the Centre withholding Rs 573 crore in central education assistance under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). According to policy rules, states must comply with NEP guidelines to receive SSA funding, of which 60 per cent is provided by the Centre to states like Tamil Nadu.

Mumbai (PTI): A deaf and mute woman's complaint about a sexual assault that took place 16 years ago in Mumbai has unmasked a serial predator, revealing a disturbing pattern of abuse and blackmail he perpetrated on several women from the community.

The accused was arrested on December 13 after the survivor broke her silence recently following the suicide attempt by one of the women he allegedly sexually harassed.

Disturbed by the suicide attempt, she confided in her friends during a video call about the assault that occurred in 2009.

According to the police, the survivor, a resident of the western suburbs, communicated in sign language during a video call with her friends and colleagues, who were part of a WhatsApp group, that the accused had drugged and raped her when she was a minor.

She also took her husband into confidence, and with support from Thane Deaf Association president Vaibhav Ghaisis, activist Mohammed Farhan Khan, sign language interpreter Madhu Keni, and a retired officer from the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities Divyangjan, the survivor approached the police.

The survivor, her husband and a few of her friends went to the Kurar police station, where her statement was recorded in camera, with Keni as interpreter, and the accused, Mahesh Pawar, was arrested a few hours later from Virar, a suburb in Palghar district.

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Recalling the trauma she endured 16 years ago, the survivor said that a female friend had invited her to explore the city in July 2009 and took her to Pawar's home in Vakola, Santacruz, an official said.

The accused allegedly offered her samosas and some beverage to celebrate the female friend's birthday. The survivor said she was forced to have the drink, which Pawar had allegedly spiked, and after a while, her friend left her alone with him.

The accused allegedly overpowered and raped her, and later blackmailed her with the recorded video of the assault.

The trauma of assault stayed with her over the years, and the attempted suicide of another woman from the community, allegedly assaulted by Pawar, propelled her to come forward.

A probe has revealed that the accused had similarly drugged and assaulted speech and hearing impaired women and threatened them into silence by blackmailing them with obscene videos, a senior police officer said.

The accused allegedly shot obscene videos of several women, using which he blackmailed them and extorted money, gold and mobile phones, he said.

He allegedly forced women into participating in nude video calls with him and recorded these to threaten them, the official said.

"As per initial investigation so far, we have evidence of his abuse of seven women, but the number can increase to more than 24," the official told PTI.

While Pawar has been remanded in judicial custody, no other woman has come forward with a complaint against him as yet, he said.

Talking to PTI, Keni said all women who have survived abuse and harassment by Pawar want to lodge a complaint against him.

She claimed that the accused had extorted money from one of the women he abused, but did not return the sum even when she needed it for a medical emergency.