The state government will amend section 1 of the Maharashtra Rajyabhasha Act, 1964, to remove the existing ambiguity and clearly mention Marathi as the official language, Education Minister Vinod Tawde said here today.
He said unlike similar Acts enacted by states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu which have clearly declared Kannada, Telugu and Tamil as official state languages respectively, the Maharashtra law is ambiguous on this aspect.
"Section 2 (c) of the Act has vaguely mentioned that Marathi is the official state language. However, the amendment is necessary to make effective use of Marathi as official language of the state," he said.
Tawde said the amendment will be moved in the forthcoming monsoon session of state legislature in July.
"Those who stay in Maharashtra or do business in the state should have the knowledge of Marathi. Although the state has adopted Marathi as the language of official business, the compulsory enforcement of it is the matter of persuasion and determination," Tawde said.
Tawde said he agreed in principle that Marathi should be compulsorily taught in schools.
He said government was seeking opinion of educationists on changing the grading pattern of the subject to enable students to score better.
He said guidance of educationists would be taken whether to taught Marathi subject as of 100 marks or 50 marks or to teach the subject without assigning any marks.
