Mumbai, March 14 -- The Maharashtra government has warned of strict action against schools across mediums and boards that fail to comply with the mandate of teaching Marathi from classes 1 to 10. School education minister Dada Bhuse on Friday told the state assembly that the government would undertake a special drive to review the implementation of this rule in schools from June. The state may potentially revoke the recognition of schools found flouting norms regarding teaching Marathi, he added. Bhuse was replying to concerns raised by MLAs alleging that some prominent international schools were not teaching Marathi. According to legislation introduced in March 2020, Marathi is mandatory for students of classes 1 to 10 in all schools in Maharashtra, including those affiliated with national and international boards. "The compulsion is across the boards and across the mediums, including Gujarati and Urdu. They have to teach Marathi compulsorily from class 1 to 10," said Bhuse. "It is true that some schools with national and international board affiliation are not following the law. They will be given a warning for the stricter implementation of the law. Even after this, if they do not fall in line, their recognition will be cancelled," he added. MLAs Haroon Khan, Atul Bhatkhalkar, Ameet Deshmukh and others raised the issue during question hour in the state assembly on Friday. Bhatkhalkar said the government should check whether international schools have recruited qualified Marathi teachers. Deshmukh suggested that the government undertake a drive to ensure that Marathi is compulsorily taught in schools across language mediums. Bhuse replied that the government will undertake a special drive in the new academic year to ensure the law is implemented. "And it will be applicable to all boards, including ICSE, IB, CBSE and others," he said. In reply to another question raised in the assembly, higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil announced that the government would cancel the affiliation of colleges that deny admissions under the state's free professional education policy for women from backward classes. This was after MLAs claimed that the state government had not been able to compensate colleges after introducing the policy in July 2024. They said that colleges have not been receiving reimbursements from the government for months, resulting in admissions being denied. Patil admitted that scholarship payments have been delayed, but said colleges cannot use this as a justification for denying admissions. "If any such complaints are received, we will cancel the recognition of such colleges," he added....