Amendments to the Official Language of India | 08 Nov 2024
Introduction
Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India (COI) lists the official languages of India.
Part XVII of the Indian constitution deals with the official languages in Articles 343 to
351.
Official Languages:
The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of the following 22 languages:
Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam,
Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu,
Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri.
Of these languages, 14 were initially included in the Constitution.
It can be noted that there is no fixed criteria for any language to be considered for
inclusion in the Eighth Schedule.
Classical Languages:
Currently there are six languages that enjoy the ‘Classical’ status in India:
Tamil (declared in 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008),
Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014).
The Ministry of Culture provides the guidelines regarding Classical languages
which are as given below:
High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of
1500-2000 years;
A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable
heritage by generations of speakers.
The literary tradition is original and not borrowed from another
speech community.
The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there
may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later
forms or its offshoots.
Relevant Constitutional provision
Article 29 of the Constitution of India protects the interests of minorities. The Article
states that any section of the citizens who have a “…distinct language, script or culture of
its own shall have the right to conserve the same.”
Article 343 is about the official language of the Union of India. According to this Article, it
is to be Hindi in Devnagri script, and numerals should follow the international form of
Indian numerals. This Article also states that English will continue to be used as an
official language for 15 years from the commencement of the Constitution.
Article 344 provides for the constitution of a Commission by the President on
expiration of five years from the commencement of the Constitution.
Article 345 provides that a State may by law adopt any one or more of the languages in
use in the State or Hindi as the language or languages to be used for all or any of the
official purposes of that State
Article 346 is about the official language for communication between the states and
between a state and the Union. The Article states that the “authorised” language will be
used. However, if two or more states agree that their communications shall be in Hindi,
then Hindi may be used.
Article 347 gives the President the power to recognise a language as an official language
of a given state, provided that the President is satisfied that a substantial proportion of
that state desires that the language be recognised. Such recognition can be for a part of
the state or the whole state.
Article 350A facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at the primary stage.
Article 350B provides for the establishment of a Special Officer for linguistic minorities.
The Officer shall be appointed by the President and shall investigate all matters relating
to the safeguards for linguistic minorities, reporting directly to the President. The
President may then place the reports before each house of the Parliament or send them to
the governments of the states concerned.
Article 351 gives power to the union government to issue a directive for the development
of the Hindi language.
Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India contains a list of 22 languages recognized
schedule languages.
Constitutional Amendments with Respect to the Official Language
21st Amendment Act of 1967
There have been persistent demands from the Sindhi-speaking people for the
inclusion of the Sindhi language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.
Although at present Sindhi is not a regional language in a well-defined area, it used
to be the language of a province of the undivided India and, but for partition, would
have continued to be so.
The Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities has also recommended the inclusion of
Sindhi in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.
On 4th November 1966, it was announced that Government had decided to include
the Sindhi language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.
The Bill seeks to give effect to this decision.
st
71 Amendment Act of 1992
This was enacted in the year 1992 which added Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali
languages to the eighth schedule and gave them the recognition.
The amendment was important as it acknowledged the cultural and linguistic
diversity of India.
The addition of these languages aimed to give support and recognition to the
linguistic communities in Goa, Manipur and Sikkim.
nd
92 Amendment Act of 2003
Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali were added to the Eighth Schedule of the
Constitution as part of the Constitution’s ninety-second amendment, officially
known as ‘The 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003’.
This brought the schedule’s total number of languages listed to 22.
Conclusion
The Constitution of India designated Hindi in the Devanagari script as the official language of
the Union, along with English as an additional official language. the evolution of India's official
language policy through various constitutional amendments highlights the country's efforts to
navigate the complexities of national unity and linguistic diversity. The debate around official
language continues to be an important part of India's political discourse.
