Mumbai, Jul 18 (PTI) Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday took potshots at the Shiv Sena (UBT) stating that the present government did not commit the "sin" of closing down civic-run Marathi-medium schools in Mumbai.
Replying to the opposition-sponsored last week's motion' on the concluding day of the monsoon session, Shinde said in the legislative council that opposition parties were raising the issue of Marathi ahead of civic elections, but the Mahayuti government has shown its love for the language through its actions.<br>"No one needs to teach us the love for Marathi. We were born Marathi, studied in Marathi medium, and strive for the progress of the language," said Shinde who heads the Shiv Sena. <br><br>"We did not commit the sin of shutting down Marathi schools and starting international schools," he said, referring to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), then controlled by the undivided Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray, closing some Marathi schools for want of students and starting, separately, an International Baccalaureate school. <br>While the opposition keeps alleging that efforts were being made to break Mumbai off from Maharashtra, the government is making efforts to connect the metropolis with the world, Shinde said.<br>The issue ofimposition' of Hindi should have ended after the government withdrew the Government Resolutions (GRs) making Hindi "mandatory" from Class 1, he said.
The R A Mashelkar committee which recommended three-language formula with mandatory Hindi and English had been formed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, and the same government accepted its report on January 27, 2022, Shinde said.
Referring to the `victory rally' of the Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena earlier this month to celebrate the reversal of the GRs making Hindi mandatory, he said the opposition thus held a rally against its own past decision.
The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government is establishing a Marathi University at Ridhapur in Amravati district, Sant University for warkari (Vitthala devotees) in Alandi, a Marathi Bhasha Bhavan in Mumbai and a Marathi Bhasha sub-centre in Navi Mumbai, he pointed out.