Raj Thackeray, the president of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), has strongly demanded that all banks operating in Maharashtra must use the Marathi language in their services, alongside Hindi and English. He made this demand through a formal letter addressed to the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), which is the main representative body of banks in India.
Recently, MNS workers visited several Bank branches in Maharashtra and demanded Banks to use Marathi language. There were even incidents of violence and the videos got viral on social media.
In this letter, Thackeray reminded the IBA that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has already issued clear guidelines requiring banks to follow the three-language rule — meaning banks must use English, Hindi, and the local language of the state (which is Marathi in Maharashtra) in their communication, services, and signboards.
Thackeray stated that many banks in Maharashtra are still not using Marathi in their services, which is a violation of these RBI guidelines. He asked the IBA to immediately instruct all banks to follow the rule. He warned that if this is not done, his party (MNS) will intensify its agitation — meaning they will increase their protests across the state.
Furthermore, he said that if the protests lead to any law and order issues, then the banks will be held responsible, not the protestors. This is a serious warning, suggesting that his party is ready to take strong action if Marathi is not implemented properly in banking services.
The letter also mentioned that the RBI had earlier sent a circular (an official notice) to all banks — both public and private — telling them that they must use regional languages along with Hindi and English.
This applies to signboards, written communication, and customer service. In simple words, when a customer enters a bank, they should be able to read instructions and receive services in Marathi, apart from English and Hindi.
This issue has been a part of MNS’s long-standing campaign to promote the use of Marathi in official work within Maharashtra. Earlier, Raj Thackeray had even told his party workers to stop their protests for some time, saying that enough awareness had already been created about the need for Marathi in banks and other establishments. However, it seems the issue hasn’t been resolved yet, as some banks continue to ignore the language rule.
Meanwhile, the situation has caused concern among bank employees. The United Forum of Bank Unions wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, complaining that some people claiming to be MNS workers had been visiting bank branches and intimidating the staff, meaning they were pressuring or threatening employees to use Marathi.
In a public rally held on Gudi Padwa (March 30), Raj Thackeray repeated his stand on the issue. He said that the use of Marathi must be made compulsory for all official work in the state. He even made a strong statement saying that those who deliberately avoid speaking Marathi will be “slapped”, which shows the aggressive tone of his campaign.
