Devendra Fadnavis to inaugurate Kusumagaraj Marathi language centre; lay foundation stone of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj special centre

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other ministers of the Maharashtra cabinet will be in JNU on Thursday evening to inaugurate the Kusumagraj Special Centre for Marathi Language, Literature and Culture. The language centre has been named after renowned poet and Jnanpith awardee Kusumagraj, and will focus on Marathi language, literature and cultural traditions.

The Chief Minister will also lay the foundation stone for the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Special Centre for Security and Strategic Studies, which will be under the School of International Studies. It will explore indigenous strategic traditions based on the Maratha empire. The centre is envisioned to become a hub for military history, strategy and future policy development rooted in India’s past.

The Kusumagraj centre will offer postgraduate and certificate-level programmes to promote multilingualism and cultural understanding. “It will offer MA in Marathi and certificate courses to go with the NEP for non-Marathi speakers like those who speak Tamil. A lot of students from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have opted for Tamil and there are many who speak Tamil whenever we have functions. This is encouraging because this will unite India and make people more sensitive to other languages of the country. The present state government is giving importance to Marathi, which has been declared by the Centre as one of the classical languages, also because Marathi is a language of great repute and know for its literature,” JNU’s VC Santishree Pandit told reporters recently.

The State government has announced the funds of ₹10 Crore for each centre. The Marathi centre was first announced in the year 2007 by then Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Maharashtra government wants to construct an equestrian statue of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj inside the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University. “We have held preliminary talks with the Vice Chancellor of the University. She is positive about it. A statue of our most revered king in the renowned university will mean spreading the importance of his valour and about Maratha history on a national platform which is holds such a key position in the academic world,” Maharashtra minister Uday Samant told The Hindu.

“We have sought land from JNU for the project. Once the land is allotted, the State government will construct the statue in the campus. There is an in-principle approval for the State government’s proposal,” Mr Samant said.