Marathi now mandatory for drivers. Census shows most Hindi, Urdu speakers don’t know it

The Maharashtra government is pushing for Marathi to become mandatory for drivers of auto-rickshaws and taxis. However, recent Census data reveals a more linguistically diverse state than the debate may suggest. While Marathi has been adopted by a sizeable section of people whose primary language is something else, the extent varies significantly across communities.

Primary Hindi speakers make up a large portion of the state's population, with 6.10 million of them reporting Marathi as an additional language, compared to 8.38 million who do not. The gap is even wider among Urdu speakers, where only 2.19 million report Marathi as an additional language, compared to 5.35 million who do not. Among Gujarati, Telugu, and Kannada speakers, the percentage of those who report Marathi as an additional language also varies, with Kannada speakers showing the highest at 57.2 percent.

Marathi speakers themselves are highly multilingual, with Hindi being the most widely reported additional language.