Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has stayed its order to make Hindi mandatory as a third language for students of Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English-medium schools in the wake of opposition to the move from various quarters.

State School Education Minister Dada Bhuse on Tuesday made the announcement about the stay on the government resolution (GR).

"We are staying the word mandatory (as mentioned in the GR).We will issue a revised GR," he told reporters. Learning Hindi as the third language will be voluntary, Bhuse said.

The government decision taken last week to make Hindi compulsory as a third language for students of Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English-medium schools in the state had met with stiff resistance from different quarters, including some opposition parties.

The move comes days after the Maharashtra government's language consultation committee urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to revoke the decision.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray, who had opposed the move to make Hindi mandatory, said it was because of the initiative of his party that the government stayed the decision.

He said had the government thought about this before taking any decision, it would not have to stay its decision. Thackeray said no other language but only Marathi will work in Maharashtra.

Minister Bhuse also asserted that learning of Marathi language will be made compulsory in the state and the education department will see to it that it is implemented effectively. He stressed that the Centre did not pressurise the state to "impose" Hindi.

In an earlier GR which had made Hindi mandatory, Bhuse said the decision to make Hindi as the third language mandatory was taken according to the recommendations of the steering committee. He said since both Hindi and Marathi had a common Devanagri script it would have made the students easier to learn the language and even teachers.