The three-language policy recently created another flashpoint in Maharashtra after the government’s decision to hold a Hindi exam for its employees came under criticism. Adding to the discussion around linguistic identity, a few incidents in the last few months sparked outrage. Several linguistic and regional groups were up in arms against the government, forcing it to suspend the exam till a final decision is taken on the issue. The confrontation has been temporarily avoided, but linguistic groups have said they will persist till the government scraps a rule made 50 years ago regarding the conduct of such exams.
Maharashtra government forced to cancel Hindi exam for employees after outrage
“We have suspended the exam till further decision. We will review the rule made in 1976 about this Hindi exam under the three-language policy. The situation has changed in the last 50 years. Officers and employees give different exams. We will see if the rule is still relevant or not,” Maharashtra minister Uday Samant told The Hindu on Thursday (May 7, 2026).
Controversial exam
As per a government notification issued last month, a Hindi exam was announced to be held on June 28 for the government’s gazetted officers and non-gazetted employees. The exam was to be held at Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The notification asked the candidates to submit applications by May 20.
