The Congress on Monday announced that it will give the classical language status to the Marathi language, a long-standing demand made by all major parties in the western state. Congress' Jairam Ramesh said PM Modi has not taken any decision on this demand for the last 10 years and the INDIA alliance will fulfill this demand once elected to power.
"Tamil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Odia languages were given status as classical Indian languages when Dr. Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister," Ramesh said.
"On 11 July 2014, then Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan submitted a report to declare Marathi as a classical Indian language. The current Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not taken any decision on the said report for ten years," Ramesh added.
"The Indian National Congress promises that Marathi will be given the status of a classical Indian language as soon as the All India Government is formed," he announced.
Back in February of this year, the state government established a committee led by former diplomat and author Dnyaneshwar Muley to address the longstanding demand for classical language status for Marathi. However, there has been no progress on this front.
Several political parties have mentioned the promise of giving the classical status to Marathi in their poll manifestos for Lok Sabha elections 2024.