Mumbai, Jul 20 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday directed officials to prepare and implement an effective action plan to preserve and promote the Marathi language.
He also stressed the need for greater transparency, continuity and efficiency in the functioning of the State Marathi Development Institute.
Chairing a meeting of the institute’s governing council, Fadnavis asked officials to finalise an annual schedule of all statutory meetings in advance to ensure timely implementation of its activities.
Fadnavis congratulated the institute for clearing its long-pending statutory and administrative backlog, saying this had strengthened its institutional framework, according to an official release.
He said the focus should now shift to implementing concrete policies for the promotion, research and preservation of Marathi and assured that pending issues concerning the institute’s employees would be resolved.
During the meeting, members proposed expanding initiatives such as “Book Village” and “Library in a Box” to tribal and border areas, setting up a theatre complex in Gadchiroli-Vadsa to preserve the Zhadiboli dialect and eastern Vidarbha’s theatre tradition, and promoting folk art forms including Bharud, Gondhal and Powada (ballad or heroic singing).
The members also demanded that children’s literature and libraries be encouraged.
The chief minister also reviewed the digitisation of around 1.5 million historical Modi script documents in Thanjavur and discussed expediting the proposed Global Marathi Centre in London named after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Marathi Language Minister Uday Samant said the government has initiated the process of establishing 75 international Brihan Maharashtra forums to promote Marathi worldwide.
He said a Kusumagraj Chair has been set up at Jawaharlal Nehru University and a postgraduate course on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s guerrilla warfare has been introduced.
The minister also announced the formation of a translation committee in the name of Yashwantrao Chavan to translate quality literature from Indian and international languages into Marathi. PTI MR NSK
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