Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has announced that October 3 will be celebrated as 'Classical Marathi Language Day' following the Centre's decision last year to confer the status of classical language on Marathi.
Also, October 3 to 9 will be marked as 'Classical Marathi Language Week' every year, it said.
A government resolution (GR) issued by the Marathi Language Department on Thursday stated that the move aims to promote awareness, preservation, and scholarly engagement with Marathi's rich linguistic and literary heritage, which spans over 2,500 years.
The decision to celebrate the day and week annually stems from a Union Cabinet resolution passed on October 3, 2024, granting Marathi the status of a classical language.
As per the GR, all government and semi-government offices, public sector undertakings, universities, schools, colleges, private enterprises, and financial institutions have been instructed to organize programmes related to popularisation and preservation of the language during the designated week.
These events will include lectures, seminars, exhibitions of ancient texts and inscriptions, quizzes, essay competitions, and other academic and cultural activities focusing on classical Marathi.
"Exhibitions of rare manuscripts and ancient copperplate inscriptions will help students and the general public connect with the classical tradition of Marathi," the GR noted.
Digitisation of ancient works, translation of classical texts into modern Marathi, and screenings of documentaries on preservation methods have also been recommended.
Collectors have been designated as heads of the Marathi Language Committees in their respective districts and asked to oversee the planning and execution of events. They are required to submit detailed reports of activities conducted during the week to the Directorate of Languages by October 31, said the government order.
The expenditure for these celebrations is to be met through regular budgetary allocations of the concerned departments and offices, it added.
Last year, the Centre approved conferring the status of classical language on Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali languages.
Their inclusion as classical language will create significant employment opportunities, particularly in academic and research fields. Additionally, the preservation, documentation, and digitization of ancient texts of these languages will generate jobs in archiving, translation, publishing, and digital media, it had said.
After a language is notified as a classical language, the Union Education Ministry provides certain benefits for its promotion, which include two major annual international awards for scholars of eminence in the said languages.
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