01 December,2023 05:14 PM IST | Pune | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic/File
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Friday protested in JM Road area of Pune in Maharashtra over several shops not having signboards in Marathi, reported the PTI.
The MNS party's workers pelted stones and vandalised English signboards of several shops, including those selling multinational brands, according to the PTI.
Videos that went viral on social media showed them agitating on JM Road.
"We held an agitation and damaged nameplates that were not in Marathi. They should be replaced with those in Marathi," said MNS leader Ajay Shinde, as per the PTI.
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He said that MNS chief Raj Thackeray had asked the Maharashtra government recently to take action against those establishments not complying with the rule to have signboards in Marathi.
Since the state government is not taking action, the MNS went ahead and protested, Ajay Shinde said.
Meanwhile, the MNS activists on Thursday blackened the English signboards of a few shops in Nashik city of Maharashtra, reported the PTI.
They alleged that the business establishments had not displayed their names in the Marathi (Devanagari) script in bold letters, as per the PTI.
A group of MNS workers, including women members, targeted shops with English signboards in the College Road area and asked their owners to have signboards in Marathi in two days. They also blackened some of the English signboards.
The Supreme Court earlier gave shops and other commercial establishments in the state a two-month deadline (which ended on November 25) to install Marathi signboards.
Meanwhile, The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is taking action against shops and establishments not displaying signboards in Marathi (Devanagari) script. During a visit to 3,269 shops, BMC found 176 without compliant signboards, violating the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act, 2018, amended in 2022. Non-compliant shops face a penalty of R2,000 per staffer, up to a maximum of Rs 1,00,000.
In A ward, BMC visited 300 shops in Colaba and Fort, finding three shops without compliant signboards. Sanjay Sonar, senior inspector of Shop and Establishment, A ward, said, "We've notified these shops and will verify their licenses, imposing fines if needed. Non-payment could lead to court action. We have fined Nike retailer, Puma showroom and Inshaallah Mashaallah perfume and textile shop." Viren Shah, president of The Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association, said that most shops comply but very few shops do not have the signboards as they need to change the full board.
(with PTI inputs)
