The people of India are governed by a democracy that is comprised of many ethnic cultures, customs, and languages. There are a wide variety of languages spoken in India among various ethnic groups. There is a well-known adage regarding the linguistic traditions of India: "The Indian language changes by the roadside much like the river." I suppose this is because this is accurate in every respect. Each kilometre is a different language in India, since it is made up of 28 states and 8 Union Territories. Throughout the history of the Constitution, there have been many disputes on the topic of what language should be used as the national language. The point, though, is that India does not have a national language. A country may have many official languages, but only one national language.
Our Constitution does not provide any
language with the status of a national language. There can be no doubt that
Hindi was designated the country's national language. Yet, the Indian community
only speaks Hindi to 40% of the population. So, for the bulk of the people,
this would be a dilemma since they would be forced to learn Hindi, which is
just not feasible. Under the Constitution of India, the national government has
mandated the use of Hindi and English in national communications. as well as a
list of 22 recognized languages (including Hindi and English). Because of the
important role these languages play in our daily lives, they deserve to be on
the Official Language Commission. National candidates who take the examination
for national government employees have the option of taking the test in any of
these languages.
India's
national language
Two languages are utilized by the
central government to carry out its official functions:
·
According
to Article 343 of the Indian Constitution, Hindi is the language of
communication used by the central government when speaking to the states in the
Hindi Belt.
·
English
is the Associate official language and the language to be used while communicating
with the states.
Eighth
Schedule to the Constitution of India
In the Eighth Schedule to the
Constitution of India, the official languages of the Republic of India are
listed. Language on the list in 1791 may be presented to the Office of the
Official Languages Commission in Ottawa, which, in turn, could count on it as
one of the grounds to enhance Hindi and English, the two official languages of
the federal government. However, the list has gained much more importance since
that time. As a result, the Indian government is now required to adopt policies
that foster these languages' growth, so that they "quickly increase in
sophistication and help communicate contemporary knowledge." Additionally,
anybody who takes the public service test is permitted to utilise any of these
languages to answer the exam question.
The eighth schedule contains the
following 22 language recognition: Articles 344(1) and 351 of the Indian
Constitution.
List
of the official scheduled languages of India
|
S.No |
Language |
State |
|
1. |
Assamese |
Assam,
Arunachal Pradesh |
|
2. |
Bengali |
West
Bengal, Tripura |
|
3. |
Bodo |
Assam |
|
4. |
Dogri |
Jammu
and Kashmir |
|
5. |
Gujarati |
Dadra
and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Gujarat |
|
6. |
Hindi |
Andaman
and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu,
Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand
and West Bengal |
|
7. |
Kannada |
Karnataka |
|
8. |
Kashmiri |
Jammu
and Kashmir |
|
9. |
Konkani |
Dadra
and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala
(The Konkan Coast) |
|
10. |
Maithili |
Bihar,
Jharkhand |
|
11. |
Malayalam |
Kerala,
Lakshadweep, Puducherry |
|
12. |
Manipuri |
Manipur |
|
13. |
Marathi |
Maharashtra,
Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu |
|
14. |
Nepali |
Sikkim
and West Bengal |
|
15. |
Odia |
Orissa |
|
16. |
Punjabi |
Punjab
and Chandigarh, 2nd official language of Delhi and Haryana |
|
17. |
Sanskrit |
Himachal
Pradesh, Uttarakhand |
|
18. |
Santali |
Spoken
by Santhal people mainly in the state of Jharkhand as well as in the states
of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Odisha, Tripura, West Bengal |
|
19. |
Sindhi |
Gujarat
and Maharashtra, especially Ulhasnagar |
|
20. |
Tamil |
Tamil
Nadu, Puducherry |
|
21. |
Telugu |
Andhra
Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry |
|
22. |
Urdu |
Jammu
and Kashmir, Telangana, Jharkhand, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West
Bengal |
Out of these languages, 14 were drafted
into the Constitution to begin with. Sindhi was included in the 21st Amendment
in 1967, and so was Konkani, Manipuri (Meitei) and Nepali, all three of which
were added to the Constitution via the addition of the 71st Amendment in 1992.
Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santali were all included in the 92nd Amendment. Oriya
was replaced with Odia in the year 2011 via the 96th Constitutional Amendment
Act.
Minority
language of India
The number of speakers for these
languages are less than one million.
Minicoy, an island in Lakshadweep,
India's language is called Mahl.
- Nivethi Natarajan
