Language in India

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URDU IN MAHARASHTRA

A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.

1. HISTORICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, AND LINGUISTIC SKETCH OF THE STATE

Maharashtra is located in the north centre of Peninsular India. It is a plateau and its slopes gently descend towards the east and south-east. Satpuda ranges cover the northern part of the State. Arabian Sea guards the western boundary of Maharashtra, while Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are on the northern side. Madhya Pradesh also covers the eastern boundary of the State.

The first well-known rulers of Maharashtra were the Satavahanas who were the founders of Maharashtra, and have left a plethora of literary, epigraphic, artistic, and archaeological evidence.

The State has a population of 7,89,37,187 persons. The regional language of the State is Marathi, whose speakers constitute 72.37 per cent of the total population.

The major linguistic minority groups in the State consist of speakers of Urdu (7.30%), Hindi (6.87%), Gujarati (2.72%), Khandeshi (1.76%), Telugu (1.57%), Kannada (1.59%), and Bhili/Bhilodi (1.33%).

The speakers of minority languages who constitute less than 1 per cent are the speakers of Sindhi (0.89%), Gondi (0.67%), Tamil (0.51%), Malayalam (0.39%), Konkani (0.37%), Punjabi (0.31%), Halabi (0.18%), Korku (0.15%), Kolami (0.11%), and Bengali (0.16%).

The speakers of minority languages who constitute less than 0.09 per cent are the speakers of Tulu (0.09%), Gorkhali/Nepali (0.04%), Korwa (0.04%), and Oriya (0.02%).

2. MAHARASHTRA POPULATION

In Table 1 given below, a detailed account of the area, population, and the headquarters of the districts of Maharashtra is presented.

Districts

Area (sq km)

Population

Headquarters

Total Urdu Population (Lacs)

%age

(Between 3 & 5)

Muslim Population (Lacs)

%age

(Between 3 & 6)

%age

(Between 5 & 6)

1

2

3

4

5

6

Ahmadnagar

17048

33.7

Ahmadnagar

1.2

3.6

2.1

6.4

56.0

Akola

5429

22.1

Akola

2.8

12.7

3.2

14.4

88.1

Amravati

12210

22.0

Amravati

2.4

10.9

2.7

12.3

88.5

Aurangabad

10107

22.1

Aurangabad

3.7

16.7

4.1

18.5

90.7

Bhandara

3895

21.1

Bhandara

0.1

0.5

0.4

1.9

25.1

Bid

10693

18.2

Bid

1.8

9.9

2.0

11.0

90.1

Buldana

9661

18.9

Buldana

1.9

10.1

2.2

11.7

86.2

Chandrapur

11443

17.7

Chandrapur

0.2

1.1

0.6

3.3

34.0

Dhule

8063

25.4

Dhule

1.2

4.7

1.3

5.2

91.6

Gadchiroli

14412

7.9

Gadchiroli

0.1

1.3

0.1

1.7

74.2

Greater Bombay

99.3

Greater Bombay

12.0

12.1

16.7

16.8

71.8

Jalgaon

11765

31.9

Jalgaon

2.4

7.5

3.5

11.0

68.4

Jalna

7718

13.6

Jalna

1.5

11.0

1.7

12.4

89.1

Kolahapur

7685

29.9

Kolahapur

1.2

4.0

1.8

6.2

64.9

Latur

7157

16.8

Latur

1.7

10.1

2.2

13.1

77.3

Nagpur

9892

32.9

Nagpur

1.5

4.6

2.3

7.0

65.5

Nanded

10528

23.3

Nanded

2.6

11.2

2.8

12.2

91.5

Nashik

15530

38.5

Nashik

3.4

8.8

3.9

10.2

86.7

Osmanabad

7569

12.8

Osmanabad

0.9

7.0

1.2

9.6

73.5

Parbhani

6517

21.2

Parbhani

2.3

10.8

2.7

12.6

85.9

Pune

15643

55.3

Pune

1.6

2.9

3.2

5.8

49.9

Raigarh

7152

18.2

Alibag

1.1

6.0

1.3

7.2

83.7

Ratnagiri

8208

15.4

Ratnagiri

1.1

7.1

1.5

9.8

72.6

Sangli

8572

22.1

Sangli

1.1

5.0

1.6

7.4

67.3

Satara

10480

24.5

Satara

0.4

1.6

1.0

4.1

40.0

Sindhudurg

5207

8.3

Oras

0.1

1.2

0.2

2.5

47.9

Solapur

14895

32.3

Solapur

2.4

7.4

3.1

9.6

77.5

Thane

9558

52.5

Thane

3.4

6.5

4.7

9.0

72.1

Wardha

6309

10.7

Wardha

0.2

1.9

0.4

3.8

49.7

Yavatmal

9892

20.8

Yavatmal

1.1

5.3

1.6

7.5

70.5

Total

789.4

57.3

7.3

76.3

9.7

75.1

3. URDU IN MAHARASHTRA

Urdu is one of the most important languages of the state. The State Government has notified the areas, where the linguistic minority groups constitute 15 per cent or more of the local population of the districts/tehsils/municipalities as per 1981 Census.

The State Government had notified the following areas, where the Urdu population constitutes 15 per cent or more of the local population.

URDU

Bhiwandi tehsil (26.00%), municipal areas of Bhiwandi (51.00%), and Kalyan (15.00%) of Thane district.

Mhasala (15.00%), Shivaradhan (15.00%) and Murud Talukas (17.00%) and municipal areas of Roha Asthami (20.00%), Shrivardhan (21.00%) and Murud (25.00%) of Raigarh district.

Municipal areas of Ratnagiri (19.00%), Khed (16.00%) and Rajapur (26.00%) of Ratnagiri district.

Malegaon tehsil (33.00%) and municipal areas of Malegaon City (68.00%) and Yevla (25.00%) of Nasik district.

Nawapur tehsil (27.00%) and municipal areas of Dhule City (23.00%), Nandurbar (17.00%), Shahade (29.00%) and Dondaicha (15.00%) of Dhule district.

Jalgaon district (25.80%) and Municipal areas of Chopia (25.00%), Yawal (30.00%), Faizpur (25.00%), Raver (28.00%), Savda (16.00%), Pachora (15.00%), Bharungaon (19.00%), Erondol (19.00%) of Jalgaon district.

Ahmednagar district (20.00%) and Municipal areas of Sangamner (20.00%) of Ahmednagar district.

Municipal areas of Junnar (25.00%) of Pune district.

Solapur North tehsil (15.00%) and municipal areas of Solapur City (17.00%) and Kurduvadi (15.00%), and Kurundvad (20.00%) in Solapur district.

Aurangabad tehsil (23.00%) and municipal areas of Aurangabad City (30.00%), Khuldabad tehsil (17.00%) and municipal areas of Khudabad (50.00%) and Kannad (40.00%), Silloe tehsil (16.00%) and municpal areas of Bhokardan (41.00%), Jalna city (25.00%) Ambald (26.00%), Paithan (19.00%), Gangapur (29.00%), Vaijapur (28.00%) of Aurangabad district.

Parbhani tehsil (18.00%) and municipal areas of Parbhani City (34.00%), Purna (22.00%), Jintur (47.00%), Hingoli (28.00%), Kalamnuri (45.00%), Basmat (24.00%), Gangakhed (25.00%), Sonpheta (25.00%), Sailu (26.00%), Manwath (22.00%), Pathari (43.00%) and Partur (33.00%) of Parbhani district.

Municipal areas of Bid (31.00%), Georai (28.00%), Manjalegaon (25.00%), Parli (25.00%), Ambejogai (23.00%) and Bharur (19.00%) of Bid district.

Nanded tehsil (21.00%) and municipal areas of Nanded City (33.00%), Mudkhed (33.00%), and Hadgaon (27.00%), municipal areas of Kinwat (31.00%), Dharamabad (23.00%), Kundalvadi (20.00%), Biloli (28.00%), Deglur (24.00%), Mukhed (18.00%) and Kandhar (32.00%) of Nanded district.

Municipal areas of Osmanabad (26.00%), Kalamb (20.00%), Latur City (19.00%), Ahmedpur (27.00%), Udgir (28.00%), Nilanga (26.00%), Ausa (31.00%), Murum (19.00%), Umarga (19.00%), Naldurg (33.00%), Paranda (40.00%), Bhum (15.00%) of Osmanabad district.

Municipal areas of Buldhana (17.00%), Chikhali (24.00%), Deulgaon Raja (19.00%), Malkapur (32.00%), Nandura (22.00%), Jalgalon (21.00%), Khemgaon (19.00%), Shegaon (19.00%) and Mehkar (20.00%) of Buldhana district.

Municipal areas of Akola City (22.00%) and Akaot (27.00%), Murtijapur tehsil (15.00%) and municipal areas of Karanja (39.00%) and Murtijapur (17.00%), municipal areas of Mangrurpir (40.00%) and Washim (20.00%), Balapur tehsil (17.00%) and municipal areas of Belapur (60.00%) and Patur (48.00%) of Akola district.

Municipal areas of Amaravati (17.00%) and Badnera (18.00%), Achalpur tehsil (15.00%) and municipal areas of Achalpur (28.00%), Chandur Bazar (32.00%), Morshi (16.00%), Sandur Gana (15.00%), Anjangaon (30.00%) and Deryapur (23.00%) of Amaravati district.

Municipal areas of Umarkhed (30.00%), Digras (20.00%) and Municipal area of Darwha (19.00%) in Darwha tehsil and Municipal area of Pusad (22.00%) in Pusad tehsil of Yavatmal district.

Municipal areas of Kamptee (34.00%) of Nagpur district.

But the government orders for publishing the important Government documents, orders, circulars, and notifications in minority languages in these areas, are yet to be issued.

The State Government had made necessary arrangements for translation in minority languages, namely, into Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Sindhi, Telugu and Urdu, by establishing four Divisional Offices of the Directorate of Languages at Bombay (for Hindi, Urdu, Kannada, Gujarati, and Sindhi), Pune (for Kannada and Telugu), Nagpur (Urdu and Hindi) and Aurangabad (for Urdu), where the Government orders, rules, regulations, etc., are translated into respective minority languages.

A detailed district wise break-up of the total Urdu population in Maharashtra is shown in Table 2.

Table 2: District-wise Break-up of Urdu Population in Maharashtra

S. No.

Districts

Total Population (Lacs)

Total Urdu Population (Lacs)

Total Male (Lacs)

Total Female (Lacs)

Rural (Lacs)

Urban (Lacs)

1

Ahmadnagar

33.7

1.2

0.6

0.6

0.6

0.5

2

Akola

22.1

2.8

1.4

1.3

1.0

1.7

3

Amravati

22.0

2.4

1.2

1.2

0.9

1.5

4

Aurangabad

22.1

3.7

1.9

1.8

1.7

2.0

5

Bhandara

21.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.02

0.1

6

Bid

18.2

1.8

0.9

0.9

0.9

0.9

7

Buldana

18.9

1.9

1.0

0.9

1.0

0.9

8

Chandrapur

17.7

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.05

0.1

9

Dhule

25.4

1.2

0.6

0.6

0.2

1.0

10

Gadchiroli

7.9

0.1

0.0

0.0

0.02

0.0

11

Greater Bombay

99.3

12.0

6.6

5.3

0.0

12.0

12

Jalgaon

31.9

2.4

1.2

1.2

1.0

1.3

13

Jalna

13.6

1.5

0.7

0.7

0.9

0.6

14

Kolhapur

29.9

1.2

0.6

0.6

0.6

0.6

15

Latur

16.8

1.7

0.9

0.8

1.0

0.7

16

Nagpur

32.9

1.5

0.8

0.7

0.03

1.4

17

Nanded

23.3

2.6

1.3

1.3

1.2

1.4

18

Nashik

38.5

3.4

1.8

1.7

0.2

3.2

19

Osmanabad

12.8

0.9

0.5

0.5

0.6

0.4

20

Parbhani

21.2

2.3

1.2

1.1

0.8

1.5

21

Pune

55.3

1.6

0.8

0.8

0.2

1.3

22

Raigarh

18.2

1.1

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.4

23

Ratnagiri

15.4

1.1

0.5

0.6

0.9

0.3

24

Sangli

22.1

1.1

0.6

0.5

0.5

0.6

25

Satara

24.5

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

26

Sindhudurg

8.3

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.0

27

Solapur

32.3

2.4

1.3

1.2

1.0

1.4

28

Thane

52.5

3.4

1.9

1.5

0.2

3.2

29

Wardha

10.7

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

30

Yavatmal

20.8

1.1

0.6

0.6

0.6

0.6

Total

789.4

57.3

30.0

27.3

17.1

40.3

In the light of the figures given above, we may draw the conclusion that Urdu is basically an urban based language in Maharashtra. The Urban/Rural division of Urdu population is presented diagrammatically below. The graph presented below exhibits the rural/urban division of Urdu population in Maharashtra.

Chart 1: Rural and Urban Division of Urdu Population

The numerical strength of the speakers of Urdu shows an uneven distribution over different districts in Maharashtra. The difference in numerical strength of Urdu speakers varies from a few hundred to thousands.

4. TOP TEN DISTRICTS OF URDU POPULATION IN MAHARASHTRA

On the basis of the variation in the numerical strength of the Urdu speakers, top ten districts have been identified and presented below in Table 3.

Table 3: Top Ten Districts

S. No.

Districts

Total Population (Lacs)

Total Urdu Population (Lacs)

%age

1

Akola

22.1

2.8

12.45

2

Amravati

22.0

2.4

10.80

3

Aurangabad

22.1

3.7

16.68

4

Bid

18.2

1.8

9.80

5

Buldana

18.9

1.9

9.84

6

Greater Bombay

99.3

12.0

12.08

7

Jalna

13.6

1.5

10.67

8

Latur

16.8

1.7

10.20

9

Nanded

23.3

2.6

11.17

10

Parbhani

21.2

2.3

10.99

The following observations may be made on the basis of the figures presented in the table above.

Top Eight districts have a concentration of Urdu speakers of over 10% of the total population.

Latur distict has above 1 lac of Urdu speakers, which is 10.20% of the total population.

Buldana and Bid occupy the Ninth and Tenth positions with 9.84% , and 9.80%.

The graph given below presents the gap between Urdu population and Total population in the top ten districts of Urdu population in Maharashtra. As shown in the graph the difference between the Urdu population and total population is maximum in Greater Bombay, and minimum in Aurangabad.

Chart 2: Total Maharashtra Population and Total Urdu Population in Urdu Populated Areas

5. URDU AS AN ICON OF MUSLIM IDENTIFICATION

Urdu is generally associated with Muslims and taken as an icon of Muslim identification. To assess the validity of the title "Urdu is an icon of Muslim identification," the following section provides a distribution of Muslim and Urdu population in Maharashtra. The table given below provides a district-wise distribution of Muslim and Urdu population.

Table 4: District-wise Break up of Muslim/Urdu Population Ratio

S. No.

Districts

Muslim Population (Lacs)

Total Urdu Population (Lacs)

%age

1.

Ahmadnagar

2.1

1.2

56.0

2.

Akola

3.2

2.8

88.1

3.

Amravati

2.7

2.4

88.5

4.

Aurangabad

4.1

3.7

90.7

5.

Bhandara

0.4

0.1

25.1

6.

Bid

2.0

1.8

90.1

7.

Buldana

2.2

1.9

86.2

8.

Chandrapur

0.6

0.2

34.0

9.

Dhule

1.3

1.2

91.6

10.

Gadchiroli

0.1

0.1

74.2

11.

Greater Bombay

16.7

12.0

71.8

12.

Jalgaon

3.5

2.4

68.4

13.

Jalna

1.7

1.5

89.1

14.

Kolhapur

1.8

1.2

64.9

15.

Latur

2.2

1.7

77.3

16.

Nagpur

2.3

1.5

65.5

17.

Nanded

2.8

2.6

91.5

18.

Nashik

3.9

3.4

86.7

19.

Osmanabad

1.2

0.9

73.5

20.

Parbhani

2.7

2.3

85.9

21.

Pune

3.2

1.6

49.9

22.

Raigarh

1.3

1.1

83.7

23.

Ratnagiri

1.5

1.1

72.6

24.

Sangli

1.6

1.1

67.3

25.

Satara

1.0

0.4

40.0

26.

Sindhudurg

0.2

0.1

47.9

27.

Solapur

3.1

2.4

77.5

28.

Thane

4.7

3.4

72.1

29.

Wardha

0.4

0.2

49.7

30.

Yavatmal

1.6

1.1

70.5

Total

76.3

57.3

75.1

The figures presented in the table indicate that not all Muslims claim Urdu as their mother tongue.

6. DECENNIAL GROWTH OF MUSLIMS AND URDU SPEAKERS

Identification through a particular Linguistic Marker/Identification is very much a matter of social awareness on the part of an individual. Change in Linguistic Identification does not signify change in linguistic behaviour. Oscillation in mother-tongue declaration reveals a shift in social identification under changed circumstances. The table given below presents the decennial growth of Muslims and Urdu speakers reported in 1971, 1981, and 1991 census reports.

S.No

State

1971

%age

1981

%age

1991

1.

Muslims

4233023

27.09

5805785

23.90

7628755

2.

Urdu

3661898

15.22

4319067

24.33

5707911

This Table indicates a considerable rise ranging between 15 to 24 per cent among Urdu speakers in the state during 1971 to 1981, and 1981 to 1991. In other words, the decennial growth of Urdu population is 24.33% in the decade 1981 to 1991.

The decennial growth of Muslims in Maharashtra shows a slightly slow decrease ranging between 27 to 23 per cent during 1971 to 1981, and 1981 to 1991. The graph given below displays a steep rise in the case of Urdu. However, the figures of Muslim decennial growth have shown a steady decreases.

Chart 3: Decennial Growth in Muslim and Urdu

7. BILINGUALISM AMONG URDU SPEAKERS

The Urdu population is mostly scattered throughout the country, hence a large proportion of Urdu speakers in many regions tend to have bilingual control over the respective language of the region along with Urdu. The table below presents the figures of bilingualism among Urdu speakers.

Table 6: Bilingualism Among Urdu Population

Total

%age

Male

%age

Female

%age

Rural

Urban

Total No. of Urdu speakers

57.3

(7.2) 13.2

30

52.3

27.3

47.6

17.1 (29.7%)

40.3 (70.2%)

Monolinguals

31.4

54.7

15

47.8

16.4

52.1

Bilinguals

25.9

45.2

15

57.9

10.9

42

S. No.

Languages

Speakers

%age to col. 2

Male

%age to col. 4

Female

%age to col. 6

Rural

%age to col. 8

1

Arabic

0.6

1

0.3

52.3

0.3

47.7

2

English

1.4

2.5

0.9

62.2

0.5

37.7

3

Hindi

14.4

25.1

8.4

58.3

6

41.6

4

Marathi

9.5

16.5

5.4

56.9

4.1

43

The figures presented in the table indicate that bilingualism among Urdu speakers is much higher than the State average. 45.2% of the total Urdu population is bilingual; Hindi is the most preferred language among the Urdu speakers of Maharashtra. 25% of the total Urdu population has bilingualism in Hindi. Hindi is followed by Marathi.

8. LITERACY IN URDU POPULATED AREAS

Despite the progress of literacy programmes in India, there are more illiterate adults in India today than there were in 1951. However we may not ignore the fact that the literacy rates in the country have shown a steady increase of about eight percent every decade since 1951, from a national average of 19.74% in 1951.

The literacy level is linked with the urban : rural factor in a significant way. Most of the illiterate persons live in the rural areas. They have no access to information through the written word. According to the 1991 census, 74.30 per cent of the total Indian population lives in the rural areas, and 25.7 per cent in urban areas. On the other hand, the literacy rate in urban areas is 61.72, while in the rural areas it is 36.31 per cent.

The male : female parameter is also very significant in literacy. Males show a higher literacy rate than females.

The table given below presents the figures of literacy among Urdu population.

Table 7: Literacy Among Urdu Mother Tongue Speakers

S. No.

Districts

Total Population

Total Literates

Male

Female

Rural

Urban

1.

Akola

22.1 Lacs

11.9 Lacs

(53.9%)

7.3 Lacs

(60.7%)

4.7 Lacs

(39.2%)

7.9 Lacs

(66.1%)

4.0 Lacs

(33.9%)

2.

Amravati

22.0 Lacs

12.9 Lacs (58.6%)

7.5 Lacs

(57.8%)

5.4 Lacs

(42.1%)

8.0 Lacs

(62.1%)

4.9 Lacs

(37.8%)

3.

Aurangabad

22.1 Lacs

10.1 Lacs (45.4%)

6.7 Lacs

(66.6%)

3.4 Lacs

(33.3%)

5.6 Lacs

(56.1%)

4.4 Lacs

(43.8%)

4.

Bid

18.2 Lacs

7.2 Lacs

(39.4%)

4.9 Lacs

(68.4%)

2.3 Lacs

(31.5%)

5.3 Lacs

(74.2%)

1.9 Lacs

(25.75)

5.

Buldana

18.9 Lacs

9.4 Lacs

(49.8%)

6.0 Lacs

(63.4%)

3.4 Lacs

(36.5%)

7.0 Lacs

(74.5%)

2.4 Lacs

(25.4%)

6.

Greater Bombay

99.3 Lacs

71.1 Lacs

(71.6%)

42.1 Lacs

(59.2%)

29.0 Lacs

(40.7%)

0.0 Lacs

(0.0%)

71.1 Lacs

(100.0%)

7.

Jalna

13.6 Lacs

5.0 Lacs

(36.3%)

3.5 Lacs

(71.0%)

1.4 Lacs

(28.9%)

3.7 Lacs

(75.2%)

1.2 Lacs

(24.7%)

8.

Latur

16.8 Lacs

7.4 Lacs

(44.3%)

4.9 Lacs

(65.3%)

2.6 Lacs

(34.6%)

5.5 Lacs

(73.8%)

1.9 Lacs

(26.1%)

9.

Nanded

23.3 Lacs

8.9 Lacs

(38.0%)

6.1 Lacs

(68.8%)

2.8 Lacs

(31.1%)

6.1 Lacs

(68.5%)

2.8 Lacs

(31.4%)

10.

Parbhani

21.2 Lacs

8.0 Lacs

(37.5%)

5.6 Lacs

(69.8%)

2.4 Lacs

(30.1%)

5.4 Lacs

(68.4%)

2.5 Lacs

(31.5%)

Chart 4: Total Population and Total Literates in Urdu Populated Areas

The graph presented above indicates that the language issue is inter-linked with the urban and rural factor in a significant way. The rural districts of Maharashtra show a high degree of illiteracy in comparison with the urban centres.

9. LEVEL OF EDUCATION AMONG URDU POPULATION

In late nineties, India adopted a series of policies and programmes to improve the quality of its education system. These included the approval and adoption of the EDUCATION FOR ALL plan. Most of these policies aimed at improving Primary Education, especially in rural areas.

In response to wide-spread concerns over the deteriorating standards of education on the one hand, and the importance of education in national and global development, the need to strengthen the educational system was recognized by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The maladies of the Indian education system are clearly alarming.

The table given below presents the level of education in Urdu populated areas of the state.

Districts

Total Literates

Literate without any formal Schooling

Primary

Middle

Matric

10+2

Non-technical diploma

Technical diploma

Graduate & above

Akola

11.9 Lacs

0.06 Lacs

(0.5%)

6.5 Lacs

(54.8%)

3.0 Lacs

(24.9%)

1.4 Lacs

(11.8%)

0.5 Lacs

(4.0%)

0.003 Lacs

(0.02%)

0.11 Lacs

(0.9%)

0.4 Lacs

(3.1%)

Amravati

12.9 Lacs

0.08 Lacs

(0.5%)

6.5 Lacs

(50.4%)

3.5 Lacs

(27.1%)

1.6 Lacs

(12.5%)

0.6 Lacs

(4.6%)

0.002 Lacs

(0.01%)

0.11 Lacs

(0.8%)

0.5 Lacs

(3.7%)

Aurangabad

10.1 Lacs

0.08 Lacs

(0.8%)

5.1 Lacs

(50.1%)

2.4 Lacs

(24.0%)

1.4 Lacs

(13.5%)

0.5 Lacs

(4.5%)

0.003 Lacs

(0.03%)

0.11 Lacs

(1.0%)

0.6 Lacs

(5.6%)

Bid

7.2 Lacs

0.08 Lacs

(1.0%)

3.9 Lacs

(54.5%)

1.8 Lacs

(24.7%)

0.8 Lacs

(11.7%)

0.2 Lacs

(3.2%)

0.005 Lacs

(0.06%)

0.07 Lacs

(0.9%)

0.3 Lacs

(3.5%)

Buldana

9.4 Lacs

0.05 Lacs

(0.5%)

5.5 Lacs

(58.7%)

2.3 Lacs

(24.6%)

0.9 Lacs

(10.0%)

0.3 Lacs

(2.7%)

0.002 Lacs

(0.02%)

0.09 Lacs

(0.9%)

0.2 Lacs

(2.2%)

Greater Bombay

71.1 Lacs

0.48 Lacs

(0.6%)

24.1Lacs

(33.9%)

17.8 Lacs

(25.0%)

15.2 Lacs

(21.4%)

4.8 Lacs

(6.8%)

0.118 Lacs

(0.1%)

0.79 Lacs

(1.1%)

7.8 Lacs

(10.9%)

Jalna

5.0 Lacs

0.05 Lacs

(1.1%)

3.0 Lacs

(60.4%)

1.1 Lacs

(22.8%)

0.5 Lacs

(9.4%)

0.1 Lacs

(2.5%)

0.001 Lacs

(0.02%)

0.03 Lacs

(0.7%)

0.1 Lacs

(2.4%)

Latur

7.4 Lacs

0.08 Lacs

(1.1%)

3.8 Lacs

(51.9%)

1.9 Lacs

(25.7%)

1.0 Lacs

(12.9%)

0.3 Lacs

(3.8%)

0.001 Lacs

(0.02%)

0.11 Lacs

(1.4%)

0.2 Lacs

(3.2%)

Nanded

8.9 Lacs

0.07 Lacs

(0.7%)

5.0 Lacs

(55.7%)

2.1 Lacs

(23.5%)

1.0 Lacs

(11.3%)

0.3 Lacs

(3.8%)

0.003 Lacs

(0.03%)

0.11 Lacs

(1.2%)

0.3 Lacs

(3.3%)

Parbhani

8.0 Lacs

0.06 Lacs

(0.7%)

4.7 Lacs

(58.8%)

1.9 Lacs

(23.7%)

0.8 Lacs

(9.6%)

0.2 Lacs

(2.7%)

0.024 Lacs

(0.3%)

0.05 Lacs

(0.6%)

0.3 Lacs

(3.2%)

Chart 5: Level of Education in Urdu Populated Areas

10. MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

The State Government has issued orders to impart instruction through mother-tongue, where a minimum of 10 students in a class or 40 in a school, so desire.

Marathi and English are generally the media of instruction. Besides these languages, other minority languages recognized as media of instruction are Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, and Sindhi.

The regional language Marathi is taught to the linguistic minority students from Standard V onwards. However, the orders regarding the teaching of Marathi, which has been made optional from Standards I to VIII in Kannada medium Primary and Upper Primary Schools situated in the border areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka, are still in vogue. The facility of teaching Marathi would be available in those schools, only if the parents of students studying in these schools made such a request in writing.

There are 59,299 Primary schools in the State.

Table 8: Total Number of Languages used as Medium of Instruction in Maharashtra

Primary

Upper Primary

Secondary

Higher

NCERT Third Survey

12

10

10

5

NCERT Fifth Survey

12

11

11

6

The Three-Lanugage Formula followed in the State envisages the study of languages as under:

Marathi, Hindi, English, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Sindhi, Bengali or Punjabi as the first language.

Hindi or any Modern/Classical Indian Language or any European Language as the second language. There is a wide range of choice to study classical languages as composite subject with Hindi or Marathi.

English or Hindi as the third language.

Those who are studying in English medium schools, have to study the following subjects as per the new language policy evolved for English medium schools from the academic year 1994-95:

English as the first language.

Marathi as the second language.

Composite Hindi with any one of the subjects as the students desire.