269 Maharashtra border villages have no Marathi schools; proposals stalled

KOLHAPUR: Members of the Maharashtra state Marathi schools operators' association have claimed that 1,191 proposals to set up Marathi-medium schools in 269 border villages of Maharashtra that had been submitted to the education department are gathering dust since 2017. The association members held a meeting at Sangli on Wednesday.
The lack of Marathi schools in the villages of five districts adjoining Karnataka is one of the major demands of the Marathi-speaking population of these villages. The Marathi-speaking people in these villages are forced to study in Kannada-medium schools or migrate to other places nearby to get their children educated in their mother tongue.
Frustrated due to the alleged prolonged neglect of the state government, some of these villages had decided to merge with Karnataka, and had sought no-objection certificates from the Maharashtra government to do so.
"As per the Right to Education Act, the provision of schooling in the mother tongue is mandatory. We have a large number of Kannada schools in the border villages. The Marathi people here have to carry out their day-to-day affairs in Kannada as they studied in Kannada-medium schools. Many students too prefer to take up jobs in Karnataka," said Raosaheb Patil, treasurer of the association.
Patil said that after repeated demands, the Maharashtra government set up primary schools in some of the villages. "However, after completing primary education, the students are forced to study in Kannada medium. We want the Maharashtra government to let us set up secondary schools by approving the proposals immediately," said Patil.
State education minister and Marathi language minister Dipak Kesarkar said, "We have taken cognisance of the demand. I have spoken to CM Eknath Shinde. We are ready to set up more primary public schools. We have stopped providing grants for secondary education. We are ready to grant permission for self-financed schools. For public secondary schools, we need to change the policy. We will ensure that the Marathi-speaking population does not feel neglected anymore."