One sight of the cramped 1,300 sq feet office of the RSVM in the premises of Elphinston Technical Institute at 3 Mahapalika Marg is enough to tell the story
Earlier this week, the Maharashtra government directed schools to celebrate 'Marathi Bhasha Diwas' on February 27 with the aim to popularise the language. Yet, the same government seems unaware that its institution named Rajya Marathi Vikas Sanstha (RSVM, roughly translated as Organisation for the Development of the Marathi language) is on the verge of collapse.
One sight of the cramped 1,300 sq feet office of the RSVM in the premises of Elphinston Technical Institute at 3 Mahapalika Marg is enough to tell the story. The rest is this- the director and the deputy director's posts have been vacant for the past five years, and the governing body is non-existent, because six years the tenure of all 20 non-government members expired.
An employee named Ashok Solankar has been running the show for the past three years. He is senior research assistant in the department but has bagged the post of in-charge director, two posts up, as the government failed to find a full-time director and even a deputy director in all these years.
The director's post is an academic one, for which the mandatory qualification is a PhD in Marathi with 10-year research experience. "There would be hundreds of people in the state, and maybe outside, who meet the criteria and might be interested in taking up the post," said Deepak Pawar, professor of politics at Mumbai University who also runs the Marathi Abhyas Kendra.
A few years ago, a hiring exercise did take place, but nobody was hired for reasons best known to the Marathi language ministry, the parent body. "Even the ministry is marred with maladministration. Over 64% posts in the ministry are lying vacant for years, due to the approach of the babus and political leaders," said a Mantralaya official.
RSVM was set up 22 years ago for popularisation of the Marathi language. Currently, over 20 full-time employees work here. The state government funds it with about Rs. 10 crore, of which 25% must be spent on research.
Staffers claimed that in absence of a full-time head for over five years, the organisation has almost collapsed due to lack of clear mandate and direction. "The level of research has gone down," said an official.
Vinod Tawde, minister for education and Marathi language, blamed the "internal politics" of the previous Congress-NCP government for creating a mess in the system. He also claimed he would ensure that all posts are filled in the next two months.
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