Official Languages of India Specified In the Constitution
Official Languages of India Specified In the Constitution
Official Languages of India
- There are 22 languages that have been recognized in the 8th schedule of the Indian constitution.
- Part XVII of the Indian constitution deals with the official languages in articles 343 to 351.
- Article 343(1) of the Indian constitution says that –
“The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals.”
- The Constitution does not specify the official language of different states.
- Initially, there were 14 official languages in Indian Constitution in 1950, but, now, there are 22 official languages in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution.
- Sindhi was added in 1967 by 21st Constitutional Amendment Act; Konkani, Manipuri (Meitei) and Nepali were added in 1992 by 71st Constitutional Amendment Act; and Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali were added in 2003 by 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act.
National Language of India
- India is a democratic country with varied ethnic cultures, traditions and languages. India has a diverse list of spoken languages among different groups of people.
- Since the beginning of the Constitution, there have been several debates on the issue of the national language. However, India does NOT have a National Language.
- The Constitution of India has specified the usage of Hindi and English to be the two official languages of communication for the national government.
- Additionally, it contains a list of 22 official languages (including Hindi and English). These languages are titled to representation on the Official Language Commission.
List of all the 22 Official Languages of India Specified in the Constitution
Below is the List of all official languages of India mentioned in Indian Constitution –
|
Language |
Spoken in the States |
Year of Recognition |
|
Assamese |
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh |
1950 |
|
Bengali |
West Bengal, Assam and Tripura, Andaman islands and Bangladesh |
1950 |
|
Gujarati |
Gujarat, Daman and Diu |
1950 |
|
Hindi |
Almost every part of the country including North-Central India |
1950 |
|
Kannada |
Karnataka |
1950 |
|
Kashmiri |
Kashmir |
1950 |
|
Konkani |
Official language of Goa but spoken in Southern Maharashtra, North Karnataka, Kerala also. |
1992 |
|
Malayalam |
South western Kerala, Lakshadweep, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu |
1950 |
|
Manipuri |
Manipur, Assam, Mizoram, Tripura, Bangladesh and Myanmar |
1992 |
|
Marathi |
Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Gujarat, Daman and Diu and Dadar and Nagar Haveli. |
1950 |
|
Nepali |
It is the national language of Nepal. It is also spoken in Sikkim, West Bengal, North-eastern states, Bhutan, Tibet and Myanmar. |
1992 |
|
Odia |
Mainly spoken in Odisha. It is the official language of the Odisha state. |
1950 |
|
Punjabi |
Official language of Punjab but spoken in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan also. |
1950 |
|
Sanskrit |
At present; this language is not spoken in almost any part of India. But it is still spoken in Mattur (Mathur) village of Karnataka state. |
1950 |
|
Sindhi |
Mainly spoken in Gujarat and Sindh province of Pakistan. |
1967 |
|
Tamil |
Official language of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It is spoken in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, and Vietnam also. |
1950 |
|
Urdu |
It is an additional official language of Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana, Delhi, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. |
1950 |
|
Telugu |
It is principle language of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. Also spoken in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, Puducherry and Chhattisgarh. |
1950 |
|
Bodo |
Bodo or Baro is a Tibetan-Burmese language spoken by Bodo people living in northeast, Nepal and Bangladesh. |
2004 |
|
Dogri |
Dogri language is spoken in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Dogri is the dialect of Punjabi. |
2004 |
|
Maithili |
Maithili language is spoken in the northern region of Bihar and Valley of Nepal. |
2004 |
|
Santali |
It is spoken in Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Tripura and Bengal. It is spoken in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan also. |
2004 |
So, this was all about the Official Languages of India Specified in Indian Constitution.
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