'Marathi classical language status proposal in final stage'

A proposal seeking a "classical language" status for Marathi is in the final stage, the Maharashtra Legislative Council was told Monday.

Replying to a query raised by MLC Kapil Patil, Education Minister Vinod Tawde said the path for such status was clear now.

Patil had last week alleged that the Shiv Sena, which is a ruling partner of the BJP, was responsible for downfall of the Marathi language in Maharashtra.

Rejecting the claim, Tawde said, "The party has taken all the efforts to restore and conserve the language".

Speaking on the classical language status issue, the minister said the real push for this proposal came after 2015.

"A Sahitya Akademi committee had also given a favourable report to award the 'classical status' to the Marathi language," he said.

As per Tawde, an appeal in the Madras High Court challenging the decision of the then Central government to award the classical language status to Telugu, Kannada, Odia and Malayalamlanguages also affected a decision on the Marathi language.

"The litigation wasted a period of more than one and half years. The HC finally discarded the petition and now the path is clear for Marathi to get the status of a 'classical language'", Tawde said.