The Maharashtra government on Wednesday officially cancelled a Hindi language examination for state government officials hours after the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Marathi Abhyas Kendra (Marathi Language Study Centre) threatened to launch an agitation against it.
Announcing that the Hindi exam, scheduled to be held on June 28, stands cancelled, Minister for Language Uday Samant said he would verify whether the examination is needed for state government employees. “The planned Hindi language examination for government employees has been canceled. We have discussed this decision with the department secretary. This examination is conducted every year as per the 1976 rules. Now we are going to verify whether this examination is needed and what the 1976 rules are,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the MNS had threatened to launch an agitation against the imposition of Hindi language on government gazetted officers and employees.
The MNS’s move came shortly after the Maharashtra state government’s Language Directorate scheduled an examination on June 28 to test the Hindi language proficiency of government officials serving in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Significantly, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had also indicated its opposition to the state government’s move. The MNS is already running a campaign to ensure that auto rickshaw drivers and taxi drivers in the state, use the Marathi language while communicating with passengers.
While the state government is yet to publicly issue a detailed clarification about the exact purpose behind the scheduled Hindi language examination for serving government employees, Marathi language activists and the MNS have questioned the need for any Hindi language exam in the state of Maharashtra, where Marathi is the official language.
Interacting with media persons here on Wednesday, senior MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said, “The government is attempting to impose Hindi through the backdoor. We have insisted that Marathi language should be spoken, since the official language of Maharashtra is Marathi alone. So, if the government imposes Hindi language on government employees officers in this manner, we will protest strongly at examination centres if the June 28 test is conducted”.