'Keep Marathi signboards': BMC tells shops and establishments in Mumbai

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday asked all shops and establishments in the city to have signboards with a name written in Marathi - in Devnagari script - displayed prominently.

Issuing the directive in an election year, the Shiv Sena-controlled civic body also said that liquor shops or bars must not bear the names of legendary personalities and historical forts.

If the signboard of any shop or business displays the name in more than one script, the Devnagari name should have a bigger font, the release said. Legal action would be taken against those violating the amended Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, the BMC said. 

Elections to the BMC, the country's richest civic body, are due this year, and a lack of Marathi signs on shops has been a political issue for parties such as the Shiv Sena and its rival MNS which eye Marathi votes. 

The establishments which serve or sell alcohol should not use the names of legendary personalities and forts on their signboards, the release further said. In March, the Maharashtra legislature passed a law that made it mandatory for all shops and establishments to have Marathi names on signboards. 

Subsequently, on March 17, the Shiv Sena-led state government issued a government resolution to enforce the law.