The Supreme Court has told Tamil Nadu to abandon an anti-Hindi mindset in a long-running dispute over Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, cautioning that individual States cannot behave like separate countries. While declining to recall a previous direction to identify land for a Navodaya school in every district, the Bench granted the State three more months to comply, clarifying that the order requires identifying suitable land in government plans rather than immediate acquisition.
Tamil Nadu argued that Navodaya schools follow a three-language formula conflicting with its two-language policy and the Tamil Learning Act, 2006, with objections centering on a scheme that it views as letting Hindi predominate and override Tamil. Past and current government positions labeled the scheme a backdoor route to impose Hindi and maintained that language choice is a fundamental right. The State also cited delayed Central education funds as preventing it from absorbing new liabilities.
The Centre responded that the State’s primary obligation is to provide land while the Centre bears construction costs, adding that language differences can be sorted out while buildings are constructed. Stressing cooperative federalism on education, the Bench urged Chennai and Delhi not to alienate each other and stated that extra Navodaya options would not lower Tamil Nadu’s standards. The matter is listed again for December 14, 2026.