Mon Dec 15 18:29:20 UTC 2025: ## Supreme Court Orders Tamil Nadu to Identify Land for Navodaya Schools

New Delhi – December 15, 2025 (The Hindu) – The Supreme Court of India has modified an eight-year-old stay order, directing the Tamil Nadu government to identify land in each of its districts for the establishment of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) within six weeks. The order comes despite strong opposition from the Tamil Nadu government, which views the centrally-funded school scheme as a potential imposition of Hindi, contravening the state’s two-language policy (Tamil and English).

A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan urged Tamil Nadu to view the Navodaya Vidyalaya scheme as an opportunity for the education of poor and rural children, rather than a threat.

Senior advocate P. Wilson, representing Tamil Nadu, argued the scheme was a “backdoor entry” for Hindi and cited significant financial obligations already borne by the state for education. He claimed the Centre owed Tamil Nadu over ₹3,500 crore under the Samagra Shiksha scheme and expressed concern over the requirement to allocate 30 acres of land in each district.

Justice Nagarathna countered, emphasizing the need to provide educational opportunities to underprivileged children and questioning whether Tamil Nadu was acting in the spirit of federalism.

The court encouraged representatives from both the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to engage in consultations regarding the Navodaya Vidyalaya scheme. This meeting would serve as a platform for the state to voice its concerns and potentially demand outstanding payments under the Samagra Shiksha scheme.

The history of the case includes a December 2017 Supreme Court stay on a Madras High Court order that directed Tamil Nadu to establish the JNVs. This stemmed from the state’s policy, legislated under the Tamil Nadu Tamil Learning Act of 2006, mandating only Tamil and English in schools. The state maintains that implementing Hindi as a third language violates this act, which the Supreme Court has previously upheld.

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