Every person living in Maharashtra should speak Marathi: Sanjay Nirupam

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam has said that every person living in Maharashtra should speak Marathi and make an "honest and sincere" attempt to keep the language alive.

His remarks came against the backdrop of the goof-up in translation during Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao's address to the Maharashtra legislature on Monday.

A similar glitch happened yesterday when the last stanza of 'Marathi Abhimaan Geet' wasn't played in the Vidhan Bhavan premises on the occasion of 'Marathi Bhasha Gaurav Din', inviting the opposition's ire.

Nirupam said Marathi is the state language of Maharashtra and it is important that every person living in the state speak the language.

"Everybody should make an honest and sincere attempt to keep the language, its literature and beauty alive. This is the responsibility of each and every person who lives in Maharashtra," he said in a statement today.

In a state where several electioneering slogans are raised over Marathi, not much has been done by the BJP government for the language, he rued.

NCP leader Jayant Patil yesterday sought to know in the state Assembly about the demand for giving Marathi, the status of a classical language.

Nirupam said even the promise made three-and-a-half years ago by the state government to set up a 'Marathi Bhavan' has not been fulfilled.

The Congress has been at the forefront of promoting the Marathi language and ensuring that it is given its due importance, he said.

The state education minister, Vinod Tawde, told the Legislative Council yesterday that the government is considering to make Marathi language a compulsory subject up to class 10 in CBSE and CISCE schools.

At present, Marathi is a compulsory subject up to class 8 in schools run by the Central Board of Secondary Education, and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, a private board which conducts the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education examination.