From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Eighth Schedule, Classical Languages
Mains level: NA
Central Idea
- The Supreme Court said it cannot direct the Centre to include Rajasthani as an official language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
About Eighth Schedule
- The Eighth Schedule outlines the official languages of the Republic of India.
- Articles 344(1) and 351 of the Constitution contain constitutional provisions relating to the Eighth Schedule.
- It was originally created to grant representation on the Official Languages Commission and enrich Hindi and English, the official languages of the Union.
- Candidates appearing for public service examinations have the privilege of using any language from the Eighth Schedule as a medium to answer the exam papers.
| Article 344(1): It mandates the appointment of a Commission by the President after 5 years from the date the Constitution comes into effect.
Article 351: It places the responsibility on the Union to promote and develop the Hindi language, enabling it to be a medium of expression for India’s diverse cultural elements. Article 351(1): The President is required to establish a commission every five years, and subsequently every ten years, with a chairman and members representing languages listed in the Eighth Schedule. The primary role is to provide advice to the President on the effective use of Hindi for official purposes by the GOI. |
Languages included
- 22 languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
- Classical Languages among these: Tamil (declared in 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014).
Chronological Additions
- 1950: The Constitution initially included 14 languages in the Eighth Schedule.
- 1967: Sindhi was added through the 21st Constitutional Amendment Act.
- 1992: Konkani, Manipuri (Meitei), and Nepali were included through the 71st Constitutional Amendment Act.
- 2003: Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santali were added through the 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act.
- 2011: The spelling “Oriya” was replaced with “Odia” through the 96th Constitutional Amendment Act.
Try this PYQ:
Consider the following languages:
- Gujarati
- Kannada
- Telugu
Which of the above has/have been declared as ‘Classical Language / Languages’ by the Government?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
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c
C
c
option C
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C