'Learning multiple languages a big advantage’: Mohandas Pai weighs in on NEP debate

Mohandas Pai emphasized that the three-language formula, introduced as part of the NEP, has significantly contributed to professional opportunities.

Former Infosys CFO and investor TV Mohandas Pai has strongly endorsed multilingual education, calling it a valuable skill that enhances career mobility across India.

TV Mohandas Pai, chairman, Aarin Capital(HT Photo)

He emphasized that the three-language formula, introduced as part of the National Education Policy (NEP), has significantly contributed to professional opportunities.

"Learning more languages enables people to work across India. It is a very big skill, and the three-language formula has given us great mobility in work. It is a big competitive advantage," Pai wrote on X.

Check out his post here:

His remarks come amid ongoing debates over the relevance of multilingual education, with some questioning its practicality in the modern job market. However, industry leaders and education experts continue to advocate for its long-term benefits.

Before Pai’s remarks, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw had also backed the National Education Policy’s (NEP) focus on multilingualism. "Being multilingual is a talent, which few possess. Making it part of the formal education system is a good way of developing such skills early on in life," she posted on X.

Her statement came in response to an X user who dismissed the three-language policy as a "total waste of time" and suggested studying an extra subject instead. Defending multilingual education, Mazumdar-Shaw countered, "I speak six languages, and it’s hugely helpful."

Adding to the discussion, author and Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murthy shared her personal experience, reinforcing the advantages of learning multiple languages. "I have always believed that one can learn multiple languages, and I myself know 7-8 languages. I enjoy learning, and children can benefit greatly from it," she said.

NEP showdown

Intensifying the language tussle with the Centre, the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday replaced the Devanagari rupee symbol with a Tamil letter in its logo for the budget 2025-26, in an unprecedented move signalling its unrelenting stance against the three-language formula under the NEP.

The move comes amidst a political firestorm over the issue after the Tamil Nadu government rejected the National Education Policy with Chief Minister M K Stalin accusing the Central government of trying to impose Hindi in the state under it and claimed that NEP was a "saffron policy" aimed at promoting and developing Hindi and not the nation.

(With agency inputs)