News Excerpt:

The upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election in October has reignited the long-standing demand for Marathi to be granted classical language status.

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• The Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra has also formed a "persuasion" committee led by former diplomat Dnyaneshwar Muley to liaise with Central government officials.
• Earlier, the Linguistics Expert Committee submitted a report on October 10 last year, recommending certain adjustments to the criteria for recognizing classical languages.
• This means that languages currently under consideration for classical status, particularly Marathi, will need to wait until the revised criteria are published.

Linguistics Expert Committee

• The Linguistics Expert Committee includes representatives from the Union Ministries of Home and Culture, along with four to five linguistic experts. It is chaired by the president of the Sahitya Akademi.

Demand for Classical Languages

• Currently, India has six classical languages: Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia, with the last designation granted in 2014.
• Over the years, there have been demands for classical status for languages like Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, and Maithili. Marathi's case has been pending for over a decade.
• In 2014, then Maharashtra Chief Minister formed a committee of Marathi experts led by Prof. Ranganath Pathare, which concluded that Marathi met all the criteria for classical language status.
• The Chief Minister also wrote to the Minister of Culture requesting the fulfillment of this demand.
• MPs from Maharashtra have repeatedly raised this issue in Parliament, with the Centre ensuring consideration of Marathi for the special status on multiple occasions.
• In February 2022, the Union Culture Minister informed Parliament that the proposal was under active consideration.

Current Criteria for Classical Language

• High antiquity of early texts/recorded history over 1,500-2,000 years.
• A body of ancient literature or texts valued as a heritage by generations of speakers.
• An original literary tradition, not borrowed from another speech community.
• Distinctiveness from its modern form, possibly with a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or offshoots.

Benefits of Classical Language

• Once a language is designated as classical, the Education Ministry provides benefits to promote it, such as international awards for scholars, establishing a center of excellence, and creating professional chairs in Central universities.