The examinations, scheduled to be held on June 28, have been put on hold, said Uday Samant, Minister of Industries and Marathi Language. “I came to know from the media that such an exam for Hindi was supposed to be conducted. I spoke to the principal secretary and decided to put the exams on hold,” Samant said.
He added, “As the Marathi language minister, I will personally verify whether it is necessary to hold these Hindi language exams in the future. If it is found that the exams are necessary, we will conduct them, but if not, they will not be held,” said Samant.
The Hindi language exams were to be held in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, but the MNS had warned of an agitation. “While the Maharashtra government is saying that Marathi should be spoken, why is this Hindi exam being imposed on employees? We strongly oppose it, and if employees are forced to take these exams, we will intensify our protest,” warned MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande. He also threatened that the party would create a ruckus outside the examination centres.
The UBT Sena also opposed the move, saying, “When the state’s official language is Marathi, what is the need for Hindi exams? We are not opposed to Hindi, but why is it being imposed in this manner?” said UBT Sena leader Kishori Pednekar.
