By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, September 29, 2020: Odisha is the first state formed on linguistic basis in the country and the government will protect and promote its mother tongue Odia, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday said.

“Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has formed a Committee to go through all aspects of the New Education Policy 2020 and come up with findings after discussing with various stakeholders. Odisha is the first state formed on linguistic basis in the country and we will protect and promote our mother tongue Odia’, whether it is in New Education Policy or any other intervention of the Union Government,” Patnaik said while holding a legislative party meeting ahead of Assembly Session which began on Tuesday.

Patnaik said that the committee “will form an important principle to evaluate the Education policy and in addition to this ‘How rural students will be impacted’ will also be an important criterion.”

The Union Cabinet approved new National Education Policy (NEP) on July 29, which is expected to bring in a slew of changes with the vision of creating an education system that contributes directly to transforming the country, providing high-quality education to all, and making India a global knowledge superpower.

The policy aims to enable an individual to study one or more specialized areas of interest at a deep level, and also develop character, scientific temper, creativity, the spirit of service, and 21st-century capabilities across a range of disciplines including sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, among others.