India, Aug. 6 -- By 9 am on Wednesday, a narrow lane leading to a modest community hall in Saki Naka began to resemble a classroom. Hundreds of students flocked to the hall throughout the day to practise spoken Marathi before taking a language proficiency test.

The students were not children. Dressed in white and khaki uniforms, they were auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers, some septuagenarians, rushing to meet the Maharashtra government's August 15 deadline to obtain a Marathi proficiency certificate.

According to the state's new policy, drivers of commercial and public service vehicles, including auto-rickshaws, taxis, and app-based cab operators, should be able to understand, speak and communicate in basic Marathi.

Since the policy was ...