Fadnavis gives migrant drivers a year to learn functional Marathi

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday that auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers will have one year to learn functional Marathi and that no action will be taken against them in that time. He spoke after a delegation led by Haji Arfat Shaikh, who heads the BJP's transport wing, met him at Sahyadri Guest House and asked for a longer runway.

The state had announced in April that non-Marathi drivers must show basic proficiency in the official language and had set 15 August as the first deadline. Regional transport offices ran roadside tests. Notices went out to drivers who failed. Marathi classes were organised in the 105 days between the announcement and the original cut-off. Sarnaik, the Shiv Sena transport minister, said about 1.65 lakh drivers completed that course. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde handed certificates to 20,000 of them the day before Fadnavis extended the clock.

Sarnaik said waiting another year was acceptable after a 36-year gap since the 1989 rule, but that there should be no further extension. "If you want to do business in Maharashtra, you will have to speak Marathi," he said. He also indicated that the one-year pause did not come from his department.

Fadnavis framed the delay as a practical concession. Drivers, he said, come from different age groups and many left school years ago. They support the rule and have a plan to learn in twelve months. The state will organise classes and study material. The political reading in Mumbai is less gentle. A large share of the city's cab and rickshaw workforce comes from Uttar Pradesh. That state votes next year. Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena (UBT) called the pause a product of "pressure from Delhi" and a reminder to Mahayuti allies about who sets the line.

The 1989 rule has sat in the files for a generation. Enforcing it in 2026, through RTO checks on the road, turned a language requirement into a livelihood threat for men who already work long shifts. A one-year amnesty lowers the temperature. It also leaves the test in place. After August 2027 the same notices can return, with a larger trained cohort and a minister on record saying there will be no third chance.

Commuters felt the earlier enforcement in the form of short strikes and fewer cabs at peak hours. The new calendar gives fleet owners and unions time to run classes without emptying stands. It does not settle the argument inside the ruling alliance about whether Marathi is a skill to be taught or a gate to be kept. That argument will resume the first time an RTO inspector writes a ticket after the new deadline.