Study on the official languages

When the Constitution of India was formed under the able guidance of Dr B. R Ambedkar, it was made sure that the inclusion of all the languages was made while writing the Constitution so that no one of any caste or culture or religion felt socially threatened and knows that they are an integral part of India’s Constitution. 

At the time of India’s independence, it was found that the languages in the country were mainly divided into two parts: Indo Aryan languages and the other being Dravidian languages. Hence, the languages that fell in these two categories were included at the time of the formation of the Constitution, as the majority of the people of this country spoke those languages fluently and efficiently. 

Official Languages Included in the Constitution – an overview

At the time of India’s Independence, it was found that the country was rich in diversity and culture. People of all castes, creeds and religions reside in the holy land of Mother India. So, at the time of the formulation of India’s Constitution, the Committee kept in mind the diversity of the country and made sure that the languages spoken in the country were all included in the Constitution so that the member of each and every caste and creed is respected and knows his/ her duties towards the nation. The inclusion of the different languages was done to spread the message of oneness.

The languages in India were divided into two categories :

1. Indo Aryan Languages
2. Dravidian Languages

It was found that the majority spoke Indo Aryan Languages, i.e. 78.05% of Indians were found to speak the languages of this family. At the same time, it was observed that 19.64% of the Indian people were found to speak the Dravidian Languages. The remaining 2.31 of the Indian population were recorded to speak languages such as Austroasiatic, Sino- Tibetan, Tai Kadai and other languages of minority groups found in the Indian subcontinent. As these were the primary languages spoken, they were hence clubbed together as Indic Languages. 

India is a diverse country with a record of 447 languages spoken. It is the fourth largest country with a high diversity of languages spoken after Nigeria. 

When the Indian Constitution was formed, languages were included in Article 230 of the Constitution. As per Article 230 of the Constitution, it was declared that the country’s official language is declared as Hindi in the Devanagari script and the use of English Language would continue for a time of 15 years from the year 1947 at the time of India’s Independence. 

Since the Constitution was formed, several amendments were done at regular intervals to include different languages. During the writing of the Constitution, the languages were kept in mind, and several other languages were included from time to time in the amendments made in the Constitution. 

After a certain period of time, The official Languages amendment in the year 1963 was made. It was decided that the English Language would be kept in the Indian Constitution and Hindi for an infinite period until there was no decision taken from the Government to discontinue its usage. 

The numeric forms to be used in the Constitution for official purposes were one of the forms of Indian numerals that are also known as Arabic numerals in many English speaking countries.

Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution

In the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, several languages have been included and given various recognition and encouragement to spread the message of unity and diversity. 22 official languages have been stated under the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. These 22 official languages are part of the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which is the latest amendment made to the Constitution. 

Apart from the 22 official languages that have also been called as the scheduled languages, some other languages have also been given some status and recognition. The Government of India has awarded the classical language status to languages like Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu. These languages have been classified as classical languages due to their rich, diverse heritage and independent usage across the country. 

The 22 languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution are:

1. Bengali
2. Assamese
3. Bodo
4. Dogri
5. Konkani
6. Kashmiri
7. Kannada
8. Gujarati
9. Hindi
10. Maithili
11. Malayalam
12. Manipuri
13. Marathi
14. Odia
15. Nepali
16. Punjabi
17. Sanskrit
18. Tamil
19. Telugu
20. Sanskrit
21. Urdu
22. Santhali

Conclusion

The languages during the writing of the Constitution were kept in mind owing to the rich and diverse culture. Though the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution has 22 official languages, there has been no demand for including several other languages like Karbi, Bhojpuri, Dhatki etc. in the Indian Constitution.