Maharashtra will soon have all its official websites in Marathi.

"The websites of various departments of the state government will be made available in Marathi and also in upgraded form," Chief Minister Ashok Chavan announced at a function late last evening.

Chavan made the announcement after it was pointed to him by the Observer Research Foundation and Marathi Abhyas Kendra, the groups working to make Information Technology material available in Marathi, the need to have the government websites in the language.

A list of websites available only in English was mentioned in a book released by Chavan in the function.

The list included the websites of Maharashtra State Electricity Board, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, Cyber Crime, Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra, Mumbai Police, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, State Excise Department, MMRDA, Bombay High Court, and the Directorate of Technical Education.

As per the book, the websites of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board had an option for Marathi, but it was not functional.

"We want the Government to consider basic things like making information about their departments available in Marathi. The site of Maharashtra Tourism Department's website has option for even Japanese, but not Marathi which is shocking," Deepak Pawar, President of Marathi Abhyas Kendra claimed.

The Government has set up a separate department for Marathi to deal with such issues, an official from the department said.