NEP not saffronisation, but empowerment: BJP's Tamilisai Soundararajan slams TN govt over education row

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 19 (ANI): BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan has hit out at the Tamil Nadu government led by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, accusing it of misleading the public on the National Education Policy (NEP) and promoting discrimination in education.
She strongly rejected the claim that the NEP aimed at "saffronising" education and instead called it a policy full of "good things" for students across the country.
Speaking to ANI, Soundararajan said, "I appeal to the Tamil Nadu CM that so many good things are in the NEP, but they are saying that we are saffronising it. On what basis are they telling it?"
She further alleged that the state's Education Minister was not speaking the truth about the committee that drafted the NEP.

"The Education Minister of Tamil Nadu is lying, saying that there were people who followed the 'Right' ideology in the committee," she said, adding that there was clear discrimination in how education was being delivered in the state.
Soundararajan criticised the ruling DMK leadership for denying language learning opportunities to poor students while privileged children, including those of ministers, studied in CBSE schools.
"There is discrimination in education; rich people and the Tamil Nadu minister's children are studying three languages, which they are studying in the CBSE schools. They don't want the poor children to get educated in another language to a good standard..." she stated.
Apart from domestic issues, Tamilisai Soundararajan also praised the performance of Indian MPs on the international stage.
She appreciated their unity and patriotism, especially in representing the country's interests globally.
"I appreciate all the MPs as we all are united, they have razor-sharp voices. We are not representing the party. We are representing our country," she said.
She credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for forming MP delegations that visited various countries to share India's achievements and values.
"Patriotism has led our country to be a victorious country against Pakistan... We thank our Prime Minister for forming such MP delegations to go to each and every country so that the good things of our country, the greatness of our army, and the good intentions of our country can be taken to the world..." she added.
Her remarks came amid an ongoing debate between the Centre and several southern states, especially Tamil Nadu, over the implementation of the NEP and language policies.
The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, seeks to upgrade India's education system, with the aim of implementing a slew of reforms. (ANI)