A day after the Central government accorded classical language status to Marathi, the Maharashtra Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Cabinet on Friday. The state government also announced that October 3 would be observed as 'Marathi Classical Language Pride Day.'
“The state Cabinet expresses its gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Union Minister of Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for this historic decision and congratulates the Union Cabinet,” read the resolution. The resolution further stated, “The Marathi language has always been classical.
Maharashtra has long sought to secure classical status for Marathi. Over the last decade, efforts were made on many fronts. A committee, led by Ranganath Pathare, played a crucial role. The Department of Marathi Language, through the Directorate, Marathi Encyclopaedia Board, Sahitya Sanskriti Board and State Marathi Development Institute worked tirelessly to pursue the matter. The Marathi Sahitya Parishad and the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan have been a great source of pride for Marathi-speaking people and lovers of the language.” Praising the Centre’s move, minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha said on Friday that “justice has been served” to the state.
“This was our longstanding demand, and it has finally been fulfilled by the double engine government On behalf of 13 crore people of the state, I thank PM Narendra Modi,” Lodha stated. NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar also expressed gratitude towards the Central government, saying that the decision would support the promotion and development of Marathi. However, Pawar noted that while the decision was overdue, it was important that it had been made.
é?&fu m i r‘UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also welcomed the Centre’s decision, emphasising that the classical language status was the result of collective efforts and could not be attributed to any single party or leader. Speaking to reporters, Raut added that if the BJP-led Union government's intent behind the move was to mitigate its Lok Sabha losses in Maharashtra, “alms” were unnecessary, as Marathi is already a great language.
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