The 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution enumerates the official languages of the Republic of India. Part XVII (Part 17) of the Indian Constitution deals with the official languages in Articles 343 to 351.
Originally, the Constitution of India included only 8 schedules, but currently there are 12 schedules in the Indian Constitution after the various amendments.
The main objective of these schedules is to sort out any uncertainty in any articles of the Indian Constitution.
Schedule of the Indian Constitution
According to the National Portal of India, the Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November, 1949, and came into force on 26th January, 1950.
Originally, there were 8 Schedules in the Indian Constitution, but later on, with various amendments, currently, there are 12 Schedules in the Indian Constitution.
Constitutional Provisions Under the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution
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Article
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Provision
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Article 343(1)
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Hindi in Devanagari script is the official language of the Union.
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Article 343(2)
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English shall continue to be used for the official purposes of the Union for 15 years from the commencement of the Constitution. The President may also authorize the use of Hindi along with English for official purposes.
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Article 344
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Provides for the constitution of an Official Language Commission by the President to make recommendations on the progressive use of Hindi and related language matters.
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Article 345
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The State Legislature may adopt any language in use in the State or Hindi as the official language for the State's official purposes.
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Article 346
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Specifies the official language for communication between one State and another, or between a State and the Union.
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Article 347
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The President may direct that a particular language be officially recognized throughout a State or any part of it if a substantial section of the population demands it.
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Article 348(1)
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Until Parliament provides otherwise, English shall be used in the Supreme Court, High Courts, and for the authoritative texts of Bills, Acts, Ordinances, Orders, Rules, and Regulations.
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Article 348(2)
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The Governor, with the President's prior consent, may authorize the use of Hindi or another State language in High Court proceedings. However, judgments, decrees, and orders must continue to be in English.
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Article 348(3)
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A State Legislature may prescribe a language other than English for Bills, Acts, Ordinances, etc., but an English translation must also be published.
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Article 350
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Every person has the right to submit a representation for the redress of grievances in any language used in the Union or the State.
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Article 350A
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Directs States and local authorities to provide primary education in the mother tongue for children belonging to linguistic minority groups.
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Article 350B(1)
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Provides for the appointment of a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities by the President to safeguard the interests of linguistic minorities.
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Article 351
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Directs the Union to promote the development of the Hindi language so that it serves as a medium of expression for India's composite culture while drawing upon other Indian languages.
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What is the official language of India?
The 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution consists of the following 22 languages, which are:
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S. No.
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Language
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Year Added to the Eighth Schedule
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1
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Assamese
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1950 (Original)
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2
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Bengali
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1950 (Original)
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3
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Gujarati
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1950 (Original)
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4
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Hindi
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1950 (Original)
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5
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Kannada
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1950 (Original)
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6
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Kashmiri
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1950 (Original)
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7
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Malayalam
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1950 (Original)
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8
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Marathi
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1950 (Original)
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9
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Odia (formerly Oriya)
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1950 (Original)
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10
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Punjabi
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1950 (Original)
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11
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Sanskrit
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1950 (Original)
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12
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Tamil
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1950 (Original)
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13
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Telugu
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1950 (Original)
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14
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Urdu
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1950 (Original)
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15
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Sindhi
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1967 (21st Constitutional Amendment)
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16
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Konkani
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1992 (71st Constitutional Amendment)
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17
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Manipuri (Meitei)
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1992 (71st Constitutional Amendment)
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18
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Nepali
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1992 (71st Constitutional Amendment)
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19
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Bodo
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2004 (92nd Constitutional Amendment)
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20
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Dogri
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2004 (92nd Constitutional Amendment)
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21
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Maithili
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2004 (92nd Constitutional Amendment)
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22
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Santali
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2004 (92nd Constitutional Amendment)
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So, the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution encourages multilingual education, preserving and documenting the ancient languages, promoting the use of regional languages, and to protect & respects all the linguistic languages.