Fadnavis gives auto and taxi drivers across Maharashtra 1 year to learn Marathi

This decision follows concerns raised by drivers unable to learn the language in three months.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday announced a one-year extension for the auto and taxi drivers to learn Marathi, adding that no action would be taken against them till then.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. (@CMOMaharashtra X)

The announcement came days after transport minister and Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik announced that the licences of auto and taxi drivers who are unable to speak Marathi would be suspended after three months if they failed to learn the language.

A delegation of auto and taxi drivers led by Haji Arafat Shaikh, who is the leader of the BJP’s transport wing, met Fadnavis on Thursday. They pointed out that a huge number of drivers could not speak Marathi, and it was not possible for them to acquire a working knowledge of the language in just three months. When they demanded extra time and protection against the action by the transport department, Fadnavis agreed to give them relief.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Fadnavis said, “This afternoon, a delegation of auto and taxi drivers met me and requested additional time to learn Marathi. Most of them are not very educated so they will require more time. I have decided to give them a year’s extension, and from today, no action will be taken against them for a year.”

Shaikh thanked Fadnavis for the relief. “We welcome the decision announced by the CM,” he said. “Some people were attempting to play politics with the Marathi issue. But now CM Fadnavis has addressed the concerns of drivers.”

Sarnaik also welcomed the decision. “We had given drivers 105 days to learn Marathi,” he said. “But now that they have a full year, we hope they will study well and speak fluent Marathi.” He added that no other extension would be given to the drivers.

Sarnaik had announced in April that as per the rules, auto and taxi drivers needed to have a working knowledge of Marathi, failing which their permits would be cancelled. After several rounds of discussion with unions, he announced Marathi classes for the drivers at which 1,65,000 learnt Marathi before the August 15 deadline. RTOs across Maharashtra launched a drive from August 18 to test the drivers. Those who failed were issued show cause notices and given three months’ time to learn the language.