In fact I would suggest that all parts of India barring south India should have a south Indian language as third language along with the local language and English, Hindi comes naturally in these parts because of the similarities with the other local languages in these parts, and also for Hindi media/films, seperately learning it is overkill. South India is prosperous and their languages are rich in literary value, we will be enriched by learning any of those languages, it will also reduce the language barrier between the two parts.
Similarly south Indians can also learn any of the non-south Indian languages as third language, it need not be Hindi only, someone might choose Marathi for the financial capital status of Mumbai where he/she wants to move, someone might be interested in literature and might want to learn Bengali for its high literary value, it should not be an imposition of a specific third language but free choice.
And third language should be avoided in board exams, our students already have too much load on them. I think it can be a main subject from class 3 to class 8, after that it can be optional.
What do you think?
@scorpionx @Bang Galore @SarthakGanguly @nair