Mumbai: The state govt has asked the Union govt to set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for the Marathi language, which has been given the status of a classical language, said minister for Marathi language Uday Samant on Thursday.Replying to a discussion on what measures the state govt had taken to set up the CoE in the legislative council, Samant said Marathi was granted classical status in October 2024 and thereafter it is mandatory to set up the CoE for which a proposal is to be sent to the University Grants Commission (UGC). “There is a SOP to be followed which has been delayed,” he said.However, on average, it takes 12 years to set up the CoE, he said, pointing out that Tamil was granted the status in 2004 but received grants after 16 years in 2020-21. Sanskrit was granted the classical language status in 2005, and the grants were received in 202-23 for the CoE. Similarly, Telugu was declared a classical language in 2008 but received Rs 1.47 crore as a grant in 2020 after 12 years.He said Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali were granted classical status the same time as Marathi but so far no govt has asked for CoE, unlike the Maharashtra govt. While the approval for the CoE is awaited the state govt has started implementing various initiatives for the preservation of the Marathi language, such as organising Vishwa Marathi Sammelan, Warkar, children, youth and workers literary conventions without waiting for funds from the Centre, said Samant.He further said a Global Marathi Language Centre will be established in London named after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. For this, the Maharashtra govt has purchased a historic building of the Maharashtra Mandal for Rs 5 crore. The centre will be operational in the next two months, he said.Work on the Marathi Bhasha Bhavan at Charni Road, Mumbai will be completed by December 2027 besides a sub-centre of the Bhasha Bhavan will be set up in Airoli at an estimated cost of Rs 34 crore. The govt, he said has already set up 39 of the proposed 75 forums to promote Marathi worldwide.MLCs Uma Khapre, Jagannath Abhyankar, Amit Gorkhe, Manisha Kayande participated in the discussion.
