Maharashtra CM Orders Action Plan for Marathi Promotion

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis chaired a regulatory board meeting of the State Marathi Development Institute on 20 July 2026, directing the body to formalize its annual meeting schedule and develop a comprehensive action plan for Marathi language promotion. The CM commended the institute for clearing years of administrative backlog and emphasized shifting focus toward concrete implementation of language promotion, research, and preservation policies.

Key initiatives reviewed included digitizing approximately 15 lakh historical documents in Modi script held at Thanjavur and establishing a World Marathi Centre in London. Proposed measures include expanding the *Village of Books* and *Peti Vachnalaya* portable library programmes to tribal and border areas, constructing a theatre complex in Gadchiroli-Wadsa to preserve the Zhadiboli dialect, and safeguarding folk arts like Bharud, Gondhala, and Powada.

The meeting signals Maharashtra's continued institutional commitment to Marathi, its sole official language since 1960, with tribal communities, border schools, folk artists, and the global diaspora positioned as primary beneficiaries of these linguistic and cultural interventions.