Has Maharashtra given up its long-pending struggle to get classical status for the Marathi language?
It appears so. The ruling and opposition coalitions have not mentioned anything about the demand during the election campaign for the first phase of the Lok Sabha polling which was over on April 19, 2024.
The ruling and opposition parties did not have time to think even about the crucial political or economic issues for their manifestos. Where was the time for the demand for classical status for the Marathi language?
The issue of the classical status of the Marathi language was debated in the Parliament several times during the last decade. Suddenly, it was not on the agenda of these parties.
The state chief minister. and his two deputies, leaders of the state units of the ruling parties or their counterparts in the opposition, were similarly busy tackling intraparty politicking for the last months.
Unexpectedly, the state government on February 14, 2024, appointed a three-member committee to follow up on the demand for the Classical Language Status of Marathi.
The Committee chairman is Mr Dnaneshwae Mulay a retired former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs|Diplomat now based in Delhi. Prof Dr Raja Dixit, Chairman of the Marathi Vishwakosh Mandal (Marathi Encyclopedia Board ) and Mr Sanjay Nahar, founder of Sarhad Institute, both based in Pune, are the two remaining members. The committee is expected to meet every month online or offline to follow up and interact with the concerned authorities.
Already one meeting was held. Is thre any hope to get the result?
Prof Dr Dixit has publicly stated that he does not hope to achieve through the committee. Mr Nahar has stated that the Classical Status is now a political issue that the lovers of the Marathi language should take up ‘on the street”
Fact Sheet of the Case
The demand was raised by the state government when Mr Pruthviraj Chavan was Chief Minister. All the parties supported it when it was raised on the floor of , Maharashtra state legislature, Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha thereafter.
The state government had set up a committee on January 10, 2012, before the BJP government came to power in 2014. The union government had asked the New Delhi-based Sahitya Akademy to process the demand, as per the procedure laid down by the Centre in the past. The Akademy committee of veteran language experts from Indian languages has unanimously approved the proposal that Marathi must be granted classical language status.
It appeared then that it would be a mere formality to announce the approval during a Parliament session or by a Cultural Affairs Minister, if not by the Prime Minister. Instead, the minister limited his response to “The demand is under active consideration of the government.”
Last year, a new Union Cultural Minister of State created confusion on the floor of the house, saying there is no such demand for Marathi. Then another minister later made only a slight variation in the ministerial response that insisted that “there is no demand pending,” which could mean that the demand has been approved already.!!
Maharashtra has been pressing the demand to get the classical status Marathi way the six other languages have already been granted the 'Classical' status as follows:
Tamil (declared in the year 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014).
The Maharashtra-state-appointed Abhijat Bhasha Samiti had submitted to the Union government its report in 2013. This report has been ignored by the union government till now.
Now, there's a new word around. Someone in Mumbai, who has kept track of these developments, says the Sahitya Akademy has been asked to keep the Marathi file under wraps till there is demand for classical language status from other language.
The Abhijat Bhasha Samiti Chairman Prof Dr Ranganath Pathare perhaps represents the feeling of dismay among its 15 members. “All the committee members worked hard for over two years till our report was finalised and submitted to the Central Government’s Cultural Ministry.
“Our task is complete. We have returned to our work, namely to write literature.” one of them told this journalist.
Unfortunately, Prof Dr Hari Narake, the Committee Co-ordinator, who had spearheaded a concerted drive for the cause, passed away on August 9. 2023. There is no activist to pursue the cause the way he did. He had confronted the political bigwigs at the centre.
One of them had conceded in an off-the-record remark “ How can we grant classical status to Marathi when Gujarati (the language of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state) has not been given such a status?)
Factsheet:
The Chief Minister who initiated the process to make a formal proposal to the Central government: Mr Pruthviraj Chavan
Report submitted to the central government to get classical language status for Marathi on May 1, 2013
Which Prime Minister gets the credit to grant this status:
Dr ManMohan Singh
How many Indian languages have been granted this status so far? Six
Which are they? When were they granted the classical status?
Tamil (declared in the year 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014).
Who are at the helm now (April 2024):
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Deputy Chief Ministers: Devendra Fadnavis & Ajit Pawar
Why is it necessary to get the classical status of a language?
The language gets, through the state government, substantial funds for the overall development of the language.
2. The language receives recognition and status on national and international levels.
3 It receives a boost to the development of the language.
4. Speakers of the language receive self-respect at national and international fora.
5. The inferiority complex of the speakers is removed.
How much grant will be available from the Centre if the language receives classical status?
Rs. 500 crore, as per the experience of the state governments whose official languages have been granted classical status. The state government is expected to receive a matching grant from the state government.
What will the state achieve from this fund?
The late Prof Hari Narake’s team visualised that the fund will help the schools, colleges and universities provide academic staff to train teachers and non-teaching staff in Marathi, in all the subjects. There are 450 universities in the state This in itself boosts the morale of Maharastrians who do not get jobs for the men and women trained in the Marathi language. The Marathi-trained staff will be benefitted as the cycle of jobs generated will move on. Direct and indirect benefits will be available from the businesses and industries from national and international economies.
To Sum up: The picture of the classical language status appears to be bleak when Maharashtra elects 48 members to represent the state in Lok Sabha.
However, he Srushtee Sanskrutik va Vikas Pratisthan activists have not given up hope. Its founder Prashant Kothadia and journalist Prof Dr Kiran Thakur have brought out a booklet in the Frequently Asked Questions FAQ)format to highlight the problems to achieving classical status for Marathi during the days to come.
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