[lg policy] India: From Menu cards to TV shows: Panel recommends changes to promote Marathi language

[Harold Schiffman]

>From Menu cards to TV shows: Panel recommends changes to promote Marathi
language

*Mumbai:* Appointment of special officers to ensure ‘correct’ use of
Marathi on TV channels in Maharashtra; making Marathi subtitles compulsory
for movies and programs of other languages aired in the state; menu cards
should be in Marathi in hotels and restaurants; 50 percent reservation in
multi-national companies for Marathi speaking people and linking promotions
and increments of bureaucrats to use of Marathi in work. These are only a
few of the recommendations of a panel set up by the Maharashtra government
to prepare Marathi language policy.

A 30 member advisory committee headed by the noted educationist and writer
Nagnath Kotapalle was constituted by the previous congress-NCP government
to prepare Marathi language policy for the next 25 years. The committee was
asked to make recommendations to preserve and promote the Marathi language
and offer suggestions to the state government on framing guidelines for its
proper use.

The draft prepared by the committee has been put up on the Maharashtra
government’s website for public feedback till February 25.
[image: Representational image. AFP]
<http://s4.firstpost.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/books-AFP.jpg>

Representational image. AFP

As per the recommendations, it has been suggested that the movies or TV
shows in other languages being shown in Maharashtra should have subtitles
in Marathi. Also, the various shows aired on the national television
channels, which are either in English or other region languages, should be
in Marathi if they are being shown in Maharashtra.

It also suggested that 30 percent of a movie crew should be Marathi
speaking people if it wants any tax exemptions in Maharashtra. The names of
the hotels and restaurants, menu cards and receipts should be in Marathi
across the state.

While the preference should be given to the Marathi speaking people in
government jobs, there must be a 50 percent reservation for Marathi
speaking people in the multi-national companies, the draft recommends.

Apart from these, the panel recommended that whether the all the government
officials including IAS are using the Marathi language or not should be
mentioned into their service records. The government also should set up a
Marathi medium university on around 500 acre plot to conserve and make the
Marathi as a global language.

Kotapalle, who headed the committee, said that the recommendations are made
a view to make the Marathi as the language of knowledge that will
automatically create more job opportunities for Marathi speaking people.
"Many TV shows like *Chhota Bheem, Mickey Mouse* have dialogues in Hindi,
Tamil, Kannada, Bengali and other regional languages but not in Marathi
because we are not insisting for it. So, such programs should be in Marathi
if they are being shown in Maharashtra," he told *Firstpost*.


He added that 30 percent crew of a film and 50 percent reservation in
multi-national companies will help to get the jobs for Marathi speaking
people. “Few government agencies use the Marathi in day to day functioning.
There should be 100 per cent use of Marathi in the government agencies and
in the judicial bodies. The collector is supposed to learn the local
language within three months after his posting as per the rule, which is in
force since British era. But, it is not strictly followed in the state,” he
explained.

He further hoped that the recommendations should be implemented by the next
year. The recommendations given in the policy were feasibly possibly and
could be implemented practically.

http://www.firstpost.com/india/from-menu-cards-to-tv-shows-panel-recommends-changes-to-promote-marathi-language-1854545.html


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