Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today backtracked from state government's earlier decision of giving licenses only to those taxi drivers who know Marathi, saying cab drivers should know any local language including Hindi and Gujarati.<br/><br/> The Congress-NCP government had decided yesterday to give new taxi licenses to only those persons who are well versed in Marathi and state resident the state for at least 15 years. The government had, however, clarified that existing taxi driver, who hold a valid license, would not be affected by the decision.<br/><br/> Chavan said the cabinet has gone by the Maharashtra Motor vehicles rules, 1989. The rules stipulate that 15 years of domicile is compulsory, for a person to have a permit. It also says that for a driver to get taxi badge, working knowledge of the local language is necessary.