Marathi litterateurs blame state govt for neglecting Marathi

Mumbai, Feb 22 (UNI) Marathi litterateurs have accused the State Government of neglecting Marathi and said the language is fast losing its identity.

While announcing the celebration of ''Marathi Day'' on February 27, Marathi Language Protection and Development Association Founder President Shantaram Datar today said that the State Government has never worked for the improvement of the language and as a result the Marathi medium schools were closing down and paving the way for English medium schools and buildings.

Mr Datar said, ''We have made many requests to the State Government to work for the language but nothing has come out of it.'' He added that President Pratibha Patil and Maharashtra Governor S M Krishna too have neglected the issue.

Arun Sadhu, the former president of the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, said that the regional language should be given importance and most of the higher education should be imparted in the regional language and all the official government language should be the state language.

He added that in most of the states, the regional language is losing its identity and the parents are to be blamed for it to some extent as they prefer sending their children to English medium schools.

The Maharashtrian litterateurs will pay their respects to the 105 martyrs, who laid down their lives for Maharashtra at Hutatma chowk, on the occasion of ''Marathi Day''.

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