The amendment mandates shops and establishments with less than 10 workers to display nameplates in Marathi. The state Cabinet on Wednesday approved a Bill that proposes to make the use of Marathi language mandatory for official purposes in local authorities, including local bodies and state-run corporations. Sources in the government said the Bill is likely to be tabled in the state legislature on Thursday.
Sources added that at present, under the Maharashtra Official Languages Act, 1964, the use of the Marathi is not mandatory in local bodies and state-run corporations and societies.
While Marathi has been accepted as the official language of the state as per the 1964 law, it was not made mandatory for local bodies, such as municipal corporations and councils, zilla parishads, statutory corporations, government companies and others, said officials.
An official from the Marathi language department said the government had received numerous complaints on the issue. “A review of the complaints had highlighted the need to make Marathi a mandatory language in public-related activities and in larger public interest… A Bill proposing to make the use of Marathi mandatory for official purposes in local authorities and state-run corporations is likely to be taken up in the legislature,” the official added.
Last year, the state government had amended the Maharashtra Official Language Act, 1964, for the effective use of Marathi language in administrative work in all government offices. The amendments included appointing a Marathi language officer and Marathi language committees in districts as well as taking disciplinary action against officials for violation of the rule.
The official said that the provisions of this Act would also apply to the local authorities in the state.
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