After hawkers, the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has trained guns on banks, asking them to conduct transactions in Marathi.
MNS functionaries met officials of banks including the Punjab National Bank, Union Bank and Allahabad Bank here and handed over letters to the bank managements, asking them to ensure that transactions are conducted in Marathi as well.
“After the recent anti-hawkers stir, Raj Thackeray has appealed for conducting bank transactions in Marathi, for the sake of sons of soil and the common man,” the letter said.
“You are aware that Marathi is the ‘rajbhasha’ (state language) of Maharashtra. That is why, our party is firm that all formal transactions in the state should be carried out in Marathi,” the letter said.
The letters given to various banks are signed by local MNS functionaries, MNS youth wing vice president Akhil Chitre said.
“You (banks) can conduct transactions in other languages also. But we are firm that transactions be also done in Marathi,” the letter said, asking banks to “respect Marathi”.
Similar letters will be soon issued to foreign banks operating in Maharashtra, Chitre said.
Addressing a rally in Thane on Saturday, Thackeray had criticised banks for ignoring the Marathi language despite guidelines from the Reserve Bank of India on using the local language.
“From Tuesday, our workers will go to banks and check if transactions are being done in Marathi. If not, we will force them to do so. We are not breaking any law but just enforcing RBI’s guidelines,” the MNS chief had said.
MNS had made telecom service providers to get their interactive voice response (IVR) systems to use Marathi. The party is now all set to ensure the same in ATMs, bank call centres, as well as their correspondence to customers, Chitre said.
