The Maharashtra government issued a government resolution on Monday, mandating the use of Marathi language in all government offices. It said that employees of all government offices must use Marathi language while speaking with all visitors, except visitors from out of India and from other non-Marathi speaking states.
According to details of the resolution shared by news agency ANI, “All employees in government offices, semi-government offices, corporations under the Maharashtra government and other government-related offices are instructed to use Marathi language with all the visitors in their offices except visitors from out of India and from other non-Marathi speaking states.”
It further stated that if any government officer is found violating this rule, “a formal complaint can be filed with in-charge of the office or the department for necessary action.”
“Considering it an act of official indiscipline and if the complainant is not satisfied with the action taken against the violator, complainant can appeal about the same before the Marathi language committee of Maharashtra legislature,” the resolution stated.
Marathi, a classical language
Last year, the Centre had approved conferring classical language status to five Indian languages, including Marathi. At an event in October 2024, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said, “Today, five languages Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali have been approved as classical languages…”
“This is a historical decision and this decision goes very well with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA government’s philosophy of taking ride in our culture, taking pride in our heritage and taking pride in all the Indian languages and the rich heritage that we have.”
A government statement, in this regard, had said that the classical languages serve as a custodian of Bharat’s profound and ancient cultural heritage, embodying the essence of each community’s historical and cultural milestone.
“The inclusion of languages as Classical Language will create significant employment opportunities, particularly in academic and research fields,” the government statement read.
Earlier in 2022, a bill was passed in Maharashtra Assembly making the Marathi language mandatory for officials working under civic bodies, corporations, and local authorities.
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