The sons-of-the-soil campaign, which has returned to the centre stage of state politics over the past year, is likely to linger a while longer with the findings of the Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2008-09, which show a steady decline in the Marathi-speaking population.



The survey, which was released on Wednesday, says the percentage of the state’s population that names Marathi as its mother tongue has declined to 68.8% from 76.5% over the past three decades. All major parties admitted that the findings are cause

for concern.



Outlining migratory trends in the state, the survey highlights the sharp rise in the Hindi-speaking population in the same period. The number of people citing Hindi as their mother tongue rose to 11% from 5% in the same period.



The ruling Democratic Front government, which tabled the survey, admitted that it will have to do some damage control to negate the aggressive campaign of the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena ahead of the assembly polls later this year.



As a first step, the front may sharpen its campaign for cent per cent jobs for locals in the government sector. A senior cabinet minister from the NCP, one of the DF constituents, said, “In urban areas, sons-of-the-soil may have drifted to the MNS and the Sena, but in rural areas they are the mainstay of the Congress and the NCP.”



Of the 12.39 lakh people moving from other states over the past five years, 10.74 lakh have settled in urban areas. This, the government said, has put pressure on infrastructure in urban areas.



What is more worrying, however, is the growing trend of migration from within the state. The drift from rural to urban areas in search of employment is adding to urban woes. It is estimated that 22.62 lakh persons from rural areas migrated to various urban centres within the state in the same period.