Cultural Affairs Minister Adv. Ashish Shelar Announces Initiative
Mumbai, August 2026 : On the occasion of the bicentenary birth anniversary year of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, the Maharashtra government will translate the complete works of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule into seven languages — Hindi, Sindhi, Gujarati, Sanskrit, Telugu, Bengali and Gor Banjara, Cultural Affairs Minister Adv. Ashish Shelar announced on Thursday.
The Department of Cultural Affairs of the Maharashtra government operates Sahitya Academies for Hindi, Sindhi, Gujarati, Sanskrit, Telugu, Bengali and Gor Banjara. As part of efforts to promote literary exchange among these languages, a one-day translation workshop was organised at the P.L. Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Academy in Prabhadevi, Mumbai. Minister Ashish Shelar inaugurated the workshop.
The primary objective of the workshop was to encourage the translation of outstanding Marathi literary works into other languages and, at the same time, facilitate the translation of notable literary works from other languages into Marathi.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister Shelar emphasised the importance of taking quality Marathi literature to readers in other languages while also bringing significant literary works from other Indian languages to Marathi readers. He said such literary exchange plays an important role in enriching languages and strengthening cultural connections.
Shelar noted that the current year marks the bicentenary birth anniversary year of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, and both the Government of India and the Maharashtra government are undertaking various programmes to commemorate the occasion.
As part of these initiatives, he announced that the complete literary works of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule would be translated into all seven languages through the respective Sahitya Academies. He assured that the state government would extend all necessary support for the project.
Under the initiative, the 861-page volume titled Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Samagra Vangmay, published in 2012 by the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Charitra Sadhan Prakashan Committee, will be translated into the seven languages.
The minister said the initiative would help make Phule’s writings, ideas and social reformist vision accessible to a wider audience across linguistic communities in India.
Renowned writer Manjiri Dhamankar, Dr Shitala Prasad Dubey, Ajit Manyal, Alok Singh and Prashant Verma, along with Academy Secretary Sachin Nibalkar, participated in the workshop. Translators and scholars representing various languages also took part in the discussions and deliberations.
The initiative is expected to further promote literary exchange between Marathi and other Indian languages while taking Mahatma Jyotiba Phule’s writings and his contribution to social reform to a broader national readership.
