
CM: Woman-led SIT to probe Beed sex attack case
Devendra Fadnavis
on Tuesday announced the formation of a
Special Investigation Team
(SIT) headed by a woman IPS officer to investigate the sexual harassment case in Beed.
"Considering the sensitivity of the case and the possibility of the harassment of more girls by the accused, the state has decided to form the SIT for a detailed and time-bound probe," Fadnavis said in the assembly on the second day of the monsoon session.
Two teachers from a tuition centre were arrested in Beed on the charge of sexually harassing a 17-year-old student. Politics has begun in this sensitive case. Former cabinet minister from NCP, Dhananjay Munde, accused NCP (SP) MLA from Beed, Sandeep Kshirsagar, of trying to protect the accused. Munde met Fadnavis on Monday to raise the demand for the formation of an SIT.
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Indian Express
4 hours ago
- Indian Express
Maharashtra's controversial third language policy: Why National Curriculum Framework recommends a third language from Class 6
After Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the government resolutions introducing a third language from Class 1 in state board schools had been scrapped, the controversy has been put to rest for now. The government has also set up a committee, led by economist and educationist Dr Narendra Jadhav, to re-examine the issue. Following Fadnavis's Sunday announcement, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena UBT declared this rollback as a victory ahead of their planned protest on July 5. Difference between national and state curricula There is a significant difference in the stages at which the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) and Maharashtra's State Curriculum Framework for School Education (SCF-SE) introduce a third language in school education. According to the New Education Policy (NEP) floated by the Centre, school education is divided into a 5+3+3+4 pedagogical and curricular structure, replacing the current 10+2 format. The first five years comprise the Foundational Stage, which includes three years of preschool, Class 1, and Class 2. The next three years are the Preparatory Stage, consisting of classes 3 to 5. The next three years constitute the Middle Stage, from classes 6 to 8, and the next four years comprise the Secondary Stage, from classes 9 to 12. NEP says the three-language formula will continue to be implemented with greater flexibility, and no language will be imposed on any state. The purpose of the NCF-SE is to help bring about the changes recommended in NEP. According to NCF-SE, R1 and R2 — the first and second school languages — are introduced from the Preparatory Stage, and by the end of the Middle Stage, a student is expected to understand and appreciate the distinctive features of the language, engage in collaborative discussions, and read and write independently in both the languages. The framework adds a third language is to be introduced in the Middle Stage, which is from Class 6 onwards. 'A new third Language, R3, is introduced in this (Middle) stage. Students acquire familiarity with the spoken form of this language, along with the basics of reading and writing.' However, Maharashtra's SCF-SE differed from NCF by calling for a 'detailed introduction' to R3 in the Preparatory Stage, which is Class 1 to Class 5. 'For this stage and all subsequent stages, efforts should be made to bring the language courses to the same level of 100 marks for R1, R2 and R3,' it says. Expert speak Dhir Jhingran, Member, National Steering Committee for development of NCF, disagrees with formally introducing a third language in school education in Class 1 or Class 3. Jhingran, who is also the founder of the Language and Learning Foundation, told The Indian Express that children should focus on developing a strong proficiency in their first language, and a second language in the early years. 'And there the focus is on building the foundation of strong literacy in two languages, which means comprehension, reading, fluency, writing, et cetera. So it requires those five to seven years to build this kind of proficiency in two languages.' 'If the child has natural exposure to languages, for example, in a household, the grandmother speaks something else, the mother and the father speak something else, you'll find a child is naturally able to pick up to three languages. But the problem is that if a child is formally taught, once you introduce Hindi or whatever as a subject, there'll be a textbook, there'll be teaching, the child has to do writing and there'll be copying work taught in a very dreary and didactic manner, which makes it very difficult for the child to actually learn a language,' he says. He says acquiring a language and gaining literacy in a language are two different matters. 'Acquiring language means that a child at home picks up words and is able to speak, because we work through gestures, and the child picks up in different ways. But once you say literacy, the child has to understand which sound is for what symbol and how do you combine what are the spellings of different words, etc. It's an overload for the child'. Following political and academic backlash over the introduction of the third language, School Education Minister Dada Bhuse announced at the end of June that in classes 1 and 2, students would only be taught oral skills, with written skills to be introduced from class 3. However, this is still three years before the NEP recommendation of Class 6. Jhingran also says increasing the curriculum burden on a child goes contrary to the goals of NEP. 'Someone may argue that in Maharashtra, all children know how to listen to Hindi, and so starting it earlier is less problematic than, say, starting French in grade three. But again, if you teach it as a subject, you're adding to the child's workload. Science, social science, and math curricula are not going away, but you're adding one more subject on which the child will be tested. So that is curricular overload. And NEP actually very clearly says, you should try to reduce the curricular burden.' 'Freedom to make necessary changes' The Maharashtra Government provided various reasons for deciding to implement the third language from Class 1. In a statement shared before the scrapping of the GRs, the School Education and Sports Department said, 'Students enjoy learning a new language and can easily learn it at an easy level at a young age.' It added that in Maharashtra, 10 per cent of students study in non-Marathi medium government-run schools, such as those offering Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, and Urdu. These students are taught Marathi and English from Class 1 in addition to their medium language, and they learn three languages. Therefore, it stated, if students from Marathi-medium schools are not taught a third language, they will lose out on Academic Bank of Credit points for classes 1 to 5. The state also argued that Hindi is familiar to children in Maharashtra from a young age; therefore, it will not academically burden the students. 'The Supreme Court has already made it clear that the National Education Policy 2020 is not binding on any state in the country. Therefore, the state has the freedom to make necessary changes in its own education policy or the National Education Policy 2020…' However, it remains to be seen how the Jadhav committee will re-examine the issue of introducing a third language in school education in Maharashtra in its report, which will be submitted after three months. Soham is a Correspondent with the Indian Express in Pune. A journalism graduate, he was a fact-checker before joining the Express. Soham currently covers education and is also interested in civic issues, health, human rights, and politics. ... Read More


New Indian Express
7 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Won't accept three-language policy even in future: Sanjay Raut
MUMBAI: Days after the Maharashtra government decided to withdraw orders on implementation of the three-language policy, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said they will not accept such a policy even in future. Facing mounting opposition to the introduction of Hindi language in Maharashtra schools from classes 1 to 5, the state cabinet on Sunday decided to withdraw two GRs (government orders) on the implementation of the three-language policy. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis subsequently announced the formation of a committee headed by educationist Narendra Jadhav to suggest the way forward on the language policy. Speaking to reporters here, Raut claimed, "Fadnavis is fond of setting up committees and SITs but does nothing." "Jadhav is respected as an economist, but this committee has no relevance now. We will not accept the three-language policy even in the future," the Rajya Sabha member asserted.


New Indian Express
8 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Telangana High Court issues notice to Rangareddy district collector in contempt case
HYDERABAD: Justice C V Bhasker Reddy of the Telangana High Court has issued notices to the Rangareddy District Collector in a contempt case filed by Birla Mallesh. The court directed the Collector to submit a report by July 11, 2025, regarding the alleged violation of a previous court order dated April 24, 2025, which stayed all transactions and alterations on over 26 acres of disputed government and Bhoodan land in Survey Numbers 180 and 182 of Nagaram village, Maheshwaram mandal. The petitioner alleged that, despite the court's stay order, the respondents continued illegal construction activity on the property. Photographic evidence submitted to the court reportedly shows ongoing compound wall construction at the site. Taking serious note of the alleged non-compliance, Justice Reddy directed the District Collector to investigate the matter immediately and report the current status of the land. The contempt proceedings stem from a broader writ petition filed by Birla Mallesh, who accused senior IAS and IPS officers from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh of colluding with revenue and registration officials to fraudulently transfer the land. The petitioner alleged that this was done using forged documents and manipulated revenue records. He claimed that his family had been cultivating the land peacefully for over five decades, but it was later falsely shown as part of Survey No. 194 to facilitate illegal transfers. Serious allegations were also made regarding the misuse of the Dharani digital land portal and the improper issuance of 13-B certificates to legitimize fraudulent transactions, commonly referred to as 'Saida Bainama.' The petitioner stated that despite filing multiple complaints since November 2024, authorities ignored the issue and instead harassed him with legal threats and defamation notices. Justice Reddy remarked that land meant for the poor was being usurped by the powerful, calling it 'a case of the fence eating the crop.'