Mon Feb 03 16:49:50 UTC 2025: **Maharashtra Mandates Marathi in Government Offices**
**Mumbai, February 4, 2025** – The Maharashtra government has issued a sweeping order making Marathi the mandatory language for all official communication within state government bodies. The order, effective immediately, impacts all government, semi-government, local self-government, and government-aided offices.
The new directive mandates that all official interactions with visitors (excluding non-Marathi speakers from outside the state and foreigners) must be conducted in Marathi. All office signage must also be in Marathi, and advertisements for government-sanctioned activities must appear exclusively in the Marathi language.
Furthermore, the order requires all internal government communications, including proposals, correspondence, and presentations, to be in Marathi. Central government offices within Maharashtra are also included under this mandate, requiring Marathi signage, application forms, and official communications. Institutions and bodies must adopt Marathi names, with only a Roman script transliteration allowed, eliminating English translations.
This move is a direct implementation of the Marathi Language Policy, approved by the state cabinet last year, aimed at promoting Marathi as the language of knowledge and employment within the next 25 years. The government has warned that officials failing to comply will face disciplinary action.
First Piper 