Anil Desai, general secretary of the Local People’s Rights Committee of the rightist Marathi political organization, delivered the demand to Central Railway officials on Wednesday.
Desai said that Central Railway was intentionally ignoring the Marathi language despite general recommendations that signs at government and semi-government offices in Maharashtra state include the three languages, adding that many of the users of the rail system in the and near the state speak only Marathi. All stations in the Western Railway system (which covers the Mumbai metropolitan area) and some other stations in the state already have signs that include Marathi.
Central Railway authorities have argued that space constraints on train indicators prevents them from including a third language, but that as a general rule it tries to use three-language signs whenever possible.
