If bookmyshow has included other languages why can’t Marathi also be incorporated asks the party.
Shiv Sena is unhappy with bookmyshow website for ignoring Marathi language interface in the site. According to the party, when languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada are being available in the website why Marathi language has been excluded. They added that since a major portion of the website’s revenue is generated from Mumbai why can’t Marathi language be included in the website. Many people especially from rural Maharashtra are not familiar with English language so Marathi language option must be made available for them in the website.
Already the state government has been taking various steps to increase the usage of Marathi language. Few years back, shopkeepers were asked to install Marathi signboards by the government. With the increased usage of smartphones enabled with internet connectivity there has been huge demand for vernacular content online. However, 56% of the content is available in English and other India language accounts for less than 0.1 per cent. In the initial stages, most of the content on Indian websites was developed in English but the situation is slowly changing as some websites have started incorporating local language in the site.
“ The website bookmyshow and its app is being used in Mumbai and Maharashtra so it is mandatory to include Marathi language (Default Language) as an option in it. Every Mumbaikar is not comfortable using English language hence local language must be made available for them in the website,” said Amit Bhadricha a member of Shiv Sena IT cell.
“bookmyshow has a large customer database from Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai. The firm also earns revenue by selling tickets of Marathi movies on its website and app. Marathi is the regional language of Maharashtra. However, they have sidelined Marathi language and have given preference to other regional languages. This is certainly not acceptable and indirectly an insult to the widely spoken language in India (Maharashtrians are based even out of Maharashtra),” said Anuj Mhatre another member of the party’s IT cell.
Anuj has also forwarded this message to Shiv Sena and Aditya Thackeray.
“If bookmyshow have included other languages why can’t Marathi also be incorporated? If the website is making profits by selling tickets to Mumbaikars then why have they ignored our regional language,” asks Jay Fadia.
“The website must create content in Marathi language too so that an average user too can understand. Everyone is not educated enough to have a command over English language. For such type of people Marathi language must be integrated in the bookmyshow website and app,” said Sameer Wadekar.
Bookmyshow officials responded and said, “Their team is in the process of bringing the language on board of the website and app. They said that Marathi language will be integrated with the website and app within a month.”
