, 22 languages have been classified as scheduled languages under the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India. There is no national language of India, per its constitution. The union government uses Hindi and English for schedule/official works, while state governments and union territories use their respective languages for official works.
When the constitution was adopted in 1950, article 343 declared that Hindi would be the official language and English would serve as an additional official language for a period not exceeding 15 years. Article 344(1) defined a set of 14 regional languages which were represented in the Official Languages Commission. The commission was to suggest steps to be taken to progressively promote the use of Hindi as the official language of the country. The Official Languages Act, 1963, which came into effect on 26 January 1965, made provision for the continuation of English as an official language alongside Hindi.
History The official languages of British India before independence were English, Hindustani and other Indian vernaculars, with English being used for purposes at the central level. The origins of official Hindi usage traces back to the late 19th century. In 1881, Hindi replaced Urdu as the official language of Bihar; and in 1900, MacDonnell issued an order, which allowed the "permissive — but not exclusive — use" of Devanagari for Hindustani language in the courts of North-Western Provinces.
Following independence, the Constituent Assembly remained divided on the language issue, with some like R. V. Dulekar and Seth Govind Das favouring declaring Hindi written in Devanagari the national language of India immediately, while within the camp favouring Hindi there were divisions over whether the script of the language should be Devanagari or Roman, whether Hindustani with both Devanagari and Urdu scripts be retained, and whether the numerals should be international or Devanagari. Meanwhile, some like Frank Anthony, T A Ramalingam Chettiar, and Naziruddin Ahmad wanted to continue the usage of English, while Nehru, although supporting the dropping of English as an official language in favour of Hindi/Hindustani, cautioned against forcefully doing so in face of opposition in the South. The Indian constitution, adopted in 1950, as a compromise envisaged that English would be phased out in favour of Hindi over a fifteen-year period, but gave Parliament the power to, by law, provide for the continued use of English even thereafter.Kanchan Chandra, "Ethnic Bargains, Group Instability, and Social Choice Theory", Politics and Society 29, 3: 337–62.
Plans to make Hindi the sole official language of the Republic were met with resistance in many parts of the country, especially in Tamil Nadu, which had a history of opposing imposition of the Hindi language dating back to 1937, when the Justice Party opposed the then Congress led Madras Government's decision to make Hindi compulsory in secondary/middle schools.
The Indian constitution, in 1950, declared Hindi in Devanagari script to be the official language of the union. Unless Parliament decided otherwise, the use of English for official purposes was to cease 15 years after the constitution came into effect, that is, on 26 January 1965. The prospect of the changeover, however, led to much alarm in the non-Hindi-speaking areas of India, especially Dravidian-speaking states whose languages were not related to Hindi whatsoever. As a result, Parliament enacted the Official Languages Act, 1963, which provided for the continued use of English for official purposes along with Hindi, even after 1965.
In late 1964, an attempt was made to expressly provide for an end to the use of English, but it was met with protests from states and territories, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka, Puducherry, Nagaland, Mizoram and Andhra Pradesh. Some of these protests also turned violent.Hardgrave, Robert L. (August 1965). "The Riots in Tamilnadu: Problems and Prospects of India's Language Crisis". Asian Survey (University of California Press) As a result, the proposal was dropped, and the Act itself was amended in 1967 to provide that the use of English would not be ended until a resolution to that effect was passed by the legislature of every state that had not adopted Hindi as its official language, and by each house of the Indian Parliament.
The position was thus that the Union government continues to use English in addition to Hindi for its official purposes as a "subsidiary official language",Notification No. 2/8/60-O.L. (Ministry of Home Affairs), dated 27 April 1960 archived from www.rajbhasha.gov.in, accessed 4 August 2020 but is also required to prepare and execute a program to progressively increase its use of Hindi.The exact extent to which, and the areas in which, the Union government uses Hindi and English, respectively, is determined by the provisions of the Constitution, the Official Languages Act, 1963, the Official Languages Rules, 1976, and statutory instruments made by the Department of Official Language under these laws.
Department of Official Language was set up in June 1975 as an independent department of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Scheduled languages of the Indian Constitution
The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of the Republic of India lists the official languages of the Republic of India. At the time when the Constitution was enacted, inclusion in this list meant that the language was entitled to representation on the Official Languages Commission, and that the language would be one of the bases that would be drawn upon to enrich Hindi and English, the official languages of the Union. The list has since, however, acquired further significance. The Government of India is now under an obligation to take measures for the development of these languages, such that "they grow rapidly in richness and become effective means of communicating modern knowledge." In addition, candidates sitting for an examination conducted for public service are entitled to use any of these languages as a medium to answer the paper.
Chronology
1950: 14 languages were initially included in the Constitution. 1967: Sindhi was added by 21st Constitutional Amendment Act. 1992: Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were added by 71st Constitutional Amendment Act 2003: Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali were added by 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act. 2011: The spelling Oriya was replaced by Odia by 96th Constitutional Amendment Act.
+List of scheduled languages Language Native Speakers(millions, 2011)NotesYear includedWriting systemAssamese 15.3 Official language of Assam1950Bengali–Assamese scriptBengali 97.2 Official language of West Bengal, Tripura and the Barak Valley region of Assam, additional official in Jharkhand1950Bengali–Assamese script Bodo 1.48 Official language of Bodoland, Assam.2003DevanagariDogri 2.6 Official language of Jammu and Kashmir2003 DevanagariGujarati 55.5 Official language in Gujarat and additional official language of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu1950Gujarati scriptHindi 528Official language in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand. An additional official language in West Bengal Major spoken language in Northern India, and one of the official languages of the Government of India along with English. 1950DevanagariKannada 43.7 Official language of Karnataka1950Kannada scriptKashmiri 6.8 Official language of Jammu and Kashmir1950Perso-Arabic scriptKonkani 2.25 Official language of Goa1992DevanagariMaithili 13.6 Additional official language of Jharkhand2003 Tirhuta scriptMalayalam 34.8Official language of Kerala; additional official language in Puducherry and Lakshadweep1950Malayalam scriptManipuri 1.8 Official language of Manipur1992Meitei scriptMarathi 83Official language of Maharashtra; additional official language of Goa.1950Devanagari(Balbodh)Nepali 2.9 Official language of Sikkim. Additional official language in the Gorkhaland region of West Bengal1992DevanagariOdia 37.5Official language of Odisha; additional official language in Jharkhand, West Bengal The spelling Oriya was replaced by Odia by 96th Constitutional Amendment Act.1950Odia scriptPunjabi 33.1 Official language of Punjab; additional official language of Delhi, Haryana, West Bengal1950GurmukhiSanskrit 0.02Classical and scriptural language of India, but not widely spoken, nor the language of any modern Indian community. Additional official language of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.1950Devanagari, Brahmi and Brahmic scriptsSantali 7.6 Additional official language of Jharkhand, West Bengal2003Ol ChikiSindhi 2.7 Not the official language of any state, but spoken by nearly three million Indians, mainly in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh.1967Perso-Arabic script or DevanagariTamil 69Official language of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.1950Tamil scriptTelugu 81.1Official language in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. An additional official language in Puducherry and West Bengal.1950Telugu scriptUrdu 50.7An official language of Jammu and Kashmir; an additional official language in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Jharkhand, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.1950 Perso-Arabic script
Official languages of the Union
Parliamentary proceedings and laws The Indian constitution distinguishes the language to be used in Parliamentary proceedings, and the language in which laws are to be made. Parliamentary business, according to the Constitution, may be conducted in either Hindi or English. The use of English in parliamentary proceedings was to be phased out at the end of fifteen years unless Parliament chose to extend its use, which Parliament did through the Official Languages Act, 1963. Also, the constitution permits a person who is unable to express themself in either Hindi or English to, with the permission of the Speaker of the relevant House, address the House in their mother tongue.
In contrast, the constitution requires the authoritative text of all laws, including Parliamentary enactments and statutory instruments, to be in English, until Parliament decides otherwise. Parliament has not exercised its power to so decide, instead merely requiring that all such laws and instruments, and all bills brought before it, also be translated into Hindi, though the English text remains authoritative. The Official Languages Act, 1963 provides that the authoritative English text of passed acts, rules, regulations, etc., are published in Hindi as well in the official gazette by President of India.
Judiciary The constitution provides, and the Supreme Court of India has reiterated, that all proceedings in the Supreme Court and the High Courts shall be in English. Parliament has the power to alter this by law but has not done so. However, in many high courts, there is, with consent from the president, allowance of the optional use of Hindi. Such proposals have been successful in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
Administration The Official Language Act provides that the Union government shall use both Hindi and English in most administrative documents that are intended for the public, though the Union government is required by law to promote the use of Hindi names, among others, resolutions, general orders, rules, notifications, administrative or other reports or press communiques issued by a government department, agency or corporation; administrative and other reports and official papers laid before a House or the Houses of Parliament; and contracts and agreements executed, and licences, permits, notices and forms of tender issued by or on behalf of the government (including government companies).