CUDDALORE: Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin upped the ante on Friday in his run-in with the Modi govt over National Education Policy and devolution of funds, saying it would take DMK “just one second to say we won’t pay tax that Union govt is collecting from the state,” reports Bosco Dominique. “Federalism is about give-and-take,” Stalin said here.
Referring to Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement that TN stood to lose Rs 5,000 crore for not rolling out PM Shri scheme linked to NEP, Stalin said Centre was jealous of states’ growth and was trying to impede their development.

Ditch politics for students’ sake, Pradhan tells Stalin on NEP

Accusing the Centre of not giving states their rightful share of resources, Stalin said: “After sucking out all state taxes through the GST regime, the Union govt is refusing to disburse the dues of states. They are refusing to announce new schemes or release funds even for joint projects of the state and Union govts.”
Stalin warned: “Don’t hurl stones at a beehive. Don’t provoke the unique spirit of Tamil people. Don’t seek to witness resurgence of Tamil defiance. As long as I am here, as long as DMK is here, no anti-Tamil, anti-Tamil Nadu, or anti-Tamilian agenda will succeed.”
Pradhan countered Stalin’s opposition to NEP, saying TN’s stance was politically motivated and harmful to students. He shared a letter addressed to Stalin on his X handle, mentioning that it was “highly inappropriate” for a state to oppose NEP with a “narrow-minded approach”. Pradhan accused the TN govt of using “intimidation for political reasons”. He said the Modi govt was fully committed to promoting Tamil culture globally and urged TN to “not politicise education” and instead work “beyond political differences in the best interest of our students”. Pradhan argued NE was a transformative policy aimed at modernising India’s education system while preserving linguistic and cultural diversity. Rejecting allegations of Hindi being imposed on southern states, he said, “Let me unequivocally state there is no question of imposing any language on any state or community.” Stalin told the gathering in Cuddalore that the “real disaster for India” was the Union govt’s alleged failure to understand the fundamental principle of federalism. “NEP is not designed to promote education but to advance the agenda of making India a homogenous nation,” he said.