Govt to form another Marathi Academy
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 15 June 2013 17:25 IST
Goa government has decided to constitute another Marathi Academy since it cannot take over the existing Gomantak Marathi Academy.
St Andre MLA Vishnu Wagh, who was heading the committee probing into the maladministration of the GMA, said the government has also decided to stop releasing grants to the GMA.
The new ‘Goa Marathi Academy’ would absorb the existing seven employees of the GMA.
The decision, according to him, was taken yesterday at a meeting chaired by chief minister Manohar Parrikar.
The meeting was also attended by the chief secretary, law secretary, director of official language and joint secretary, finance.
Wagh said the proposal to appoint government administrator over the GMA was deferred as the law secretary pointed out that it was legally not possible.
The GMA is constituted under the Societies Act and thus the government cannot interfere in its functioning.
However, the government had appointed Wagh committee after complaints started against its maladministration and even the employees were not paid.
The GMA is presently headed by Narendra Azgaonkar.
He had ignored the recommendations made by the Committee to streamline the GMA, due to which the government had to take the drastic steps, Wagh said.
The GMA was constituted on the background of the official language agitation of 1986, with former Gomantak Editor Narayan Athawale taking initiative in mobilizing funds from the public.
He had roamed all over Goa with a Zolli to collect funds while the Goa government, after the official language dispute was resolved, had started releasing funds for the GMA for the preservation and development of Marathi language.
Later, the Marathi protagonists had taken up a prestigious project of building Marathi Bhavan at Porvorim, which is lying half constructed till date in spite of the government partly releasing funds to complete the project.
Several Marathi protagonist stalwarts claim that the GMA has gone in the hands of a coterie since its basic constitution does not allow all the Marathi lovers to participate in its elections, except around 60 permanent members of the Society.
Govt has taken a right decision to create a new marathi academy. the current one follows an unheard of procedure of limited membership to 50 persons only. they have been misusing govt and public monies for a long. the incomplete building at porvorim reveals everything. the academy should create a structure similar to a society under societies registration act with open membership. anyone who utilises public money should be accountable to public. i only hope the new academy fulfills public aspirations and does not become another club of parrikars cronies such as subhash velingkar to siphon off govt money and govt property la govt marathi schools premises scam.
@Ferns and John,
Read the article and know the facts before you comment. Goa Govt has been supporting Marathi Academy for years from its inception, now the same money will be diverted to set up a new Govt. Marathi Academy.
For your kind information, Marathi is as much part of Goan lexicon as much as the other languages are.
I strongly demand the immediate formation of Kannada , Malyalam, Bhojpuri and Deccani (a variant of Urdu/ Farsi and other Southern languages) Academies by Goa Govt. . After the exit of Portuguese in 1961, these languages have become the part of " post liberation(?)history of Goa. The numbers of those speaking above languages is very high and constitutes 25 per cent of the population.
Marathi is a passé. Dying a natural death in almost all big cities of Maharashtra. Only rural areas are clinging onto it.
Konkani will have to be given the status of minority language in Goa in next 10 years. Walk on any road and you will hear all above languages and not Konkani. We do not have huge rural population like Mahrashtra.
And in next five years politicians who do not take my comments seriously are bound to be doomed. Better change with changing times. Aao Jao Ghar Tumhara. Stutpid guys fighting over Konakni and Marathi. How can't they foresee what is coming?