Maharashtra to establish Marathi language departments and classical studies hub

The Maharashtra government is implementing several initiatives to promote and preserve the Marathi language. Following the granting of Classical Language status to Marathi, the Central government has approved the establishment of a Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Marathi Language at the Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute in Pune. This center will receive central funding to support research, infrastructure, and the creation of professorial chairs in major Central Universities.

Additionally, Marathi Language Minister Uday Samant announced that independent Marathi Language Departments will be established in the offices of district collectors across the state. These units will be headed by Class-I Marathi Language Officers and provided with dedicated office space and staff to manage language-related administrative tasks separately from the existing workloads of district collectors.

To protect linguistic diversity, the state also plans to publish dictionaries covering 100 Marathi dialects. Other planned activities include organizing student and women’s literary conferences at the university level and hosting a three-day workshop in Ratnagiri featuring experts from 11 classical languages.