Marathi a Must in all Govt Offices for Communication

• Correspondence in Marathi mandatory under ‘Marathi Bhasha Policy’ of Maharashtra Govt

• Provision to take disciplinary action in case of non-compliance

Mumbai – On implementation of ‘the Marathi Bhasha Policy’ in Maharashtra State, it has now been made mandatory to communicate, write and correspond in Marathi in the Government, semi-Government offices, local ‘Swarajya Sanstha (self-Government bodies)’, State Corporations and Government aided offices. The employees and visitors will have to speak in Marathi in these offices. Boards are required to be displayed advising to speak in Marathi. Non-compliance with this order will draw disciplinary action against the concerned officers and employees. The Government issued such an order on 03.02.2025. Complaints about officers and staff can now be lodged directly with the Head of the Department, and Office-in-charge. Disciplinary action can be taken against them after due verification and if they are found guilty. If the complainant feels the action taken against the concerned person is inadequate, he can submit an application to ‘the Marathi Bhasha Samiti’. The following action is to be undertaken in the Government offices as per the Government order for the use of Marathi language.

1. All the original drafts/proposals, correspondence, comments/remarks, orders and communication will be only in Marathi.

2. All presentations at the Government level and on websites will be in Marathi.

3. As per the ‘Tri-lingual formula’ of the Union Government (use of  English, Hindi and the respective regional/ State-language), display of all notice boards, nameplates, and application forms in all offices of the Union Government in the State and banks, etc will have to be in Marathi under the State Government’s order.

4. Marathi names assigned by the State Government to the Government, semi-Government establishments, corporations, Government-aided establishments, etc will, henceforth, be used in the  Government transactions.

5. New names will be assigned only in Marathi which will be transcribed into Roman script instead of translating them into English.

6. Every advertisement, tender, notice, etc to be issued by the State Government establishments, institutes, committees, etc and given to the newspapers and media for publishing, will be only in Marathi.

It has been mentioned in the Government’s circular that all departments should immediately start implementation of the order by going through the recommendations under ‘Marathi Bhasha’ policy. All the concerned departments will allocate required funds for implementation of Marathi Bhasha policy.

The draft of ‘Marathi Bhasha Dhoran’ was approved by the cabinet of ministers on 12.12.2024 and accordingly, ‘Marathi Bhasha Vibhag’ has announced the policy related to the use of Marathi language in the State. The main goal of this policy is to establish Marathi as a language of knowledge and employment over the next 25 years. It is necessary to use Marathi for its preservation, conservation, propagation and development not only from the viewpoint of education but in every transaction. The use of Marathi language is, therefore, necessary in communication and correspondence at all levels. Keeping this in mind, a few recommendations have been made under ‘Marathi Bhasha Dhoran’ for the use of Marathi in the transactions with the Government. The policy aims to integrate use of Marathi language into fields such as school education, technical education, law, justice, finance, industry, media, and administration, etc.