CHAPTER FOUR

STATUS OF LANGUAGES OF INDIA

CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. The World View of Languages

3. Classification of Scripts

4. Classifications of the languages of India

4. 1. Languages of India Based on Language Families

4. 2. Languages of India based on Agent of Language Survey

5. Language Arrangements as Indicated by UNESCO

6. Findings of the Chapter

7. Conclusion

END NOTES

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 CHAPTER FOUR

STATUS OF LANGUAGES OF INDIA

1. INTRODUCTION:

Language is a remarkable ability of human beings. Due to language, we can “shape events in
each other’s brains with exquisite precision. Only by making noises with our mouths can we
reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas to arise in each other’s minds. The ability
comes so naturally that we are apt to forget what a miracle it is.” 1 As a result, language would
be the most prominent feature in any study of human evolution.

Furthermore, language is of utmost importance to the individual and society. Language

influences the daily lives of people of all races, religions, and regions. Language enables us to
communicate our emotions, wishes, fears, and questions to others. Language is essential for
transmitting thoughts and ideas, but it also fosters friendships, cultural bonds, and economic
links. Further, it represents a fundamental expression of social Identity. The faculty of
language is considered the defining characteristic of human beings. Since humans have
structured vocal cords, they can communicate through languages. Initially, though all the
languages were oral, over time, they became written. With the advancement of technology,
printing has come into existence. Though language also includes symbols, these symbols are
voluntarily produced symbols rather than natural.

How many languages are spoken today? “Linguists are typically hesitant to answer the first
question posed above. Probably the best that one can say with any hope of not being
contradicted is that some 4000 languages are spoken today”2 is the answer given by Bernard
Comerie, the author of the Voluminous book The World’s Major Languages. The Cambridge
Encyclopedia of Language’s author and editor David Crystal, a leading language expert, says,
“Most reference books published since the 1980s give a figure of between 6000 and 7000, but
estimates have varied in recent decades between 3000 to 10000.”3 “The thirteenth edition of
Ethnologue (1996) contains 6,703 language headings, and about 6,300 living languages are
classified in the International Encyclopaedia of Linguistics. There are 6,796 names listed in
the index to the Atlas of the World’s Languages.”4

2. THE WORLD VIEW OF THE LANGUAGES:

The worldview of the language speaks of a different story. The world’s languages are
classified variously on different footings by different scholars. Anatole V. Loyvin has given
the following classification of languages:5
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2.1. Genetic classification
2.2. Typological Classification
2.3. Sociolinguistic Classification

2.1. Genetic Classification: This is the oldest way of classifying languages. It is a way to
prove that two languages share a common ancestor. For example, showing that Russian and
English descended from the same source language called Proto-Indo European Language

2.2. Typological Classification: It claims that two particular languages have a standard
structure. For example, Russian and English had a common ancestor but have some standard
features presently, though different.

2.3. Sociolinguistic Classification: Sociolinguistic Classification emanates from language’s

role in society. For example, some languages are now only used in written form or in church
services. “Coptic and Latin are now used only for the liturgical purpose. Arabic is mostly a
liturgical language in non-Arab Muslim countries, whereas, in Arab countries, it is used as a
formal written language, in education and informal discourse.”6

A writing system is a means of symbolising the spoken language though in an imperfect way.
The frequent confrontation with unfamiliar and exotic-looking foreign scripts attracts the
attention of a discussion on various world scripts. “Like languages, writing systems can be
classified either genetically, according to their historical origin, or typologically according to
various criteria.”7

3. CLASSIFICATION OF SCRIPTS:

On the foundation of meaning, a basic graphic unit represents the scripts can be classified into
Pictographic, Logographic, Syllabic, and Alphabetic:

3.1. Pictographic: In strict terms, it cannot be called a writing system because it does not use
recognisable graphic units but only pictures of items or situations. A pictographic script can
be highly stylised but open-ended since new symbols may suit the situation. It also represents
meaning without any intervening level of language structure. Thus, it is language-neutral but
not culturally neutral.

3.2. Logographic (Morphemographic): In Greek, ‘logos’ means word. Logographic writing is

a simple system representing linguistic units of a particular language. In this writing, each
basic graphic unit represents a morpheme. This writing system does not have a separate
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symbol for each different word. However, many words may consist of a single morpheme in
isolating languages. For example, Chinese, which uses Logographic writing, is an isolating
language. So far, a writing system possessing a symbol for each word is not in vogue. Such a
system would have been unwieldy and difficult to learn since every language has many
words. Chinese is the only language that uses a logographic system to a large extent, while
Korean and Japanese use borrowed Chinese logographs.

3.3. Syllabic: Each primary symbol represents a syllable in the Syllabic writing system. “A
syllable is the smallest unit of speech that usually occurs in isolation, consisting of either
vowel alone or combinations of vowels and consonants”8. A syllabary is much more
economical than a logographic writing system regarding the number of separate symbols that
must be learned. Today’s most familiar syllabic writing system in everyday use is Japanese.

3.4. Alphabetic: “Alphabetic writing system is potentially the most economical and efficient
one since in it each basic symbol represents an individual segment or phoneme and each
language has many fewer segments or phonemes than different syllables.”9 The alphabetic
writing system is the most efficient and economical but has become very complicated. For
example, though it is alphabetic, the English Language is replete with arbitrary spellings.
Moreover, some letters stand for more than one segment - for instance, x in ox.

What is important to note is that no writing systems in the actual world today are entirely
homogeneous typologically. For example, Japanese writing uses both syllable signs and
logographs, and even English is not alphabetic as it uses logographs like 1, ‘one’ and 2 ‘two’
or ‘&’ and, and $ ‘dollar’. However, different languages have different histories; each has
survived modifications or transformations.

4. CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES OF INDIA:

India is a multilingual country. It is argued that it is impossible to enumerate the exact number
of living languages globally, which is true in India too. However, we consider the
approximate number of living languages in the world as 7000, of which nearly 1700 belong to
India. “According to the 1961 census, there were 1652 mother tongues in India. These mother
tongues are identity tokens. Depending on how one counts, there are 400 to 700 languages in
India.”10 Moreover, “The languages of India belong to four language families...There are
many languages yet to be classified, and scholars have suggested a fifth family. There are
eight major script systems and several minor ones in India.” 11

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The above uncertainties regarding the number of languages and writing systems encourage
the researcher to examine the various significant classifications of languages and scripts in
legislations, policies and programmes undertaken by the Governments and private individuals
and the political reasons for discrepancies in these classifications and their repercussions.

Languages of India have been classified differently by linguists, researchers, psychologists

and others. On the data available for this study, the languages of India are classified based on
1. Language Family, and 2. The agent of language survey. In this chapter classification of
languages will be done in the following ways:

4.1. Languages of India based on Language Families

4.2. Language of India based on the agent of the Language Survey

4.1. Languages of India Based on Language Families: “Linguists commonly classify

languages under language families. A language family is a collection of dialects that share a
common ancestor or progenitor language, referred to as the family’s proto-language.”12 It is
said that out of the 7,111 living human dialects of the world are dispersed in 141 diverse
language families. We will look at the Indian dialects under the accompanying six families:

4.1.1 The Indo-Aryan Languages:

4.1.2 The Indo-European Languages
4.1.3 Indo-Iranian Languages:
4.1.4 Dravidian dialects
4.1.5 Austro-Asiatic languages
4.1.6 Sino-Tibetan dialects
4.1.7 Great Andamanese Languages

4.2. Languages of India Based on the Agent of Language Survey:

4.2.1. Languages According to the Linguistic Survey of India by Sir G.A. Grierson
from 1898 to 1928: “Language is an important attribute of the population in a plurilingual
and pluri-ethnic country like India.”13 Indian government conducts the census every ten years
to have a language strategy and overall planning. The British did not have a predictable
language strategy in India. Their approach to Indian languages was purely based on the
calculations of their interests. It was only by the late 19th century that they gradually
undertook the mammoth exercise of mapping, classifying and fixing the boundaries of each

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language and putting them in one or the other language family. The Indian Census
Commissioner’s website claims, “A systematic non-synchronised census was conducted
between 1865 to 1872 and was popularly called the first popular census of India.” 14

“G.A. Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India was a significant development and culmination
of the colonial project of classification and standardisations of the Indian languages.” 15 In all,
the Linguistic Survey of India, directed by Sir George Grierson, depicts 364 distinct Indian
dialects and vernaculars once spoken in British India. It officially started in 1894, and the
review proceeded for a long time, with the remainder of the outcomes distributed in 1928.

Sir George Abraham Grierson (1851-1941) was an Irish linguist who was an administrator in
the Indian Civil Services and was keen on philology and etymology and sought-after
investigations into the languages and folklore during his postings in Bengal and Bihar. His
immense interest in languages motivated him to propose a formal language survey at the
Oriental Congress in 1886 in Vienna. The Congress appreciated and welcomed the thought
and prescribed it to the British government, and subsequently, he delegated the director of the
recently made Linguistic Survey of India in 1898. He proceeded with the work until 1928 and
was liable for archiving data on 179 dialects and 544 tongues he set in five language families.

4.2.2. Classification of Indian Languages According to the People’s Linguistic Survey

of India (PLSI): People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI) attempts to record India’s living
languages. “Captain Prof. Ganesh N. Devy is the originator of the Bhasha Research and
Publication Centre in Vadodara, Gujarat.”16 Begun in 2010, an enormous group of researchers
led a thorough study of Indian languages, distributing their discoveries in state-wise volumes
from 2013 onwards. PLSI proposed to finish its errand of distributing 92 books by 2020.

The objectives of PLSI were:

1. “To provide an overview of India’s existing live languages.

2. To build a dynamic network of people devoted to sustainable development, regardless of
their different socio-economic and cultural circumstances, as well as community stewards
of life-enhancing systems and practices.
3. To strengthen the foundation of an Indian society that is multilingual and multicultural by
building bridges between various language communities.

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4. To strengthen the government’s relationships with various speech communities and align
the government’s global development plans with environmentally and culturally diverse
communities.
5. To improve educational resources and the capacity to promote education in the home
language.
6. To offer a foundation for future analysis of India’s linguistic and cultural diversity.
7.
“For the sake of human security and survival, stop the loss of linguistic, cultural, and
biological variety cultivated by speech communities over a generation, and conserve one of
the few remaining bastions of linguistic variation in the world.” 17

PLSI classified languages into:

1. Classical Languages,
2. Languages of Adivasis,
3. Languages of Nomads,
4. Scheduled Languages,
5. Non-Scheduled Languages,
6. Indian Languages in Diaspora and
7. Code Languages.

4.2.3. Languages of India According to Indian Census Report: “According to the Indian
Census report, 2011, the languages are classified as follows:

1. Indo-European:
a. Indo-Aryan
b. Iranian
c. Germanic
2. Dravidian
3. Austro-Asiatic
4. Tibeto-Burmese
5.
Semito-Hamitic”18

4.2.4. Indian Constitutional Classification of Languages: India’s Constitution speaks

about three types of languages:

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[Link]. Official Languages,
[Link]. Scheduled Languages
[Link]. Classical Languages.

[Link] Official Language: The Official languages of India can be classified again as:

[Link].1 National Official Languages

[Link].2 State Official Languages

[Link].1. National Official Languages: Sir George Abraham Grierson’s “Linguistic

Survey of India revealed an aggregate of 179 languages and 544 tongues, had disarray about
languages at the time of independence.”19 Moreover, the nation needed a connecting language
or an official language.

However, from Indian history, it is evident that pre-independent India did not enjoy the
privilege of a national language. Sanskrit, Persian and English were official languages in the
ancient, mediaeval and modern periods. However, they never claimed to be the national
languages. It was because, in multilingual India, one language was superior in one region.

However, when the time came to decide on the national language of India, various linguistic
pressure groups exerted their influence considerably. The various language associations that
started in the 19th century to promote their culture and language now had become political
pressure groups with their political agenda. 20 These language groups exerted influence
through various political parties, which was evident in the process of official language policy.

“The prominent language groups influential in the growth and spread of Hindi were Nagari
Pracharini Sabha and Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, which had come into existence in 1893 and
vociferously worked to develop Hindi in Devanagari Script.”21 They propagated the purity of
Hindi by enriching it from the vocabulary derived only from Sanskrit. On the other hand,
prominent leaders in Hindi Sahitya Sammelan like Madan Mohan Malviya, P D Thandan and
Govind Das propagated Hindi loaded with Sanskritized words with the political interest of
Hindi speakers, which displeased the non-Hindi speakers.22

However, other Indian languages perceived the work of Hindi associations with the
Sanskritized Hindi regions as a latent threat. Therefore, other languages also started their
language associations. For instance, the “Aligarh Movement for the promotion of Urdu came
into existence under the leadership of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.” 23 As a result, after

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independence in Constituent Assembly, the two opposing contenders for the national
language status were Hindi and Urdu. As a result, both these languages have begun to
consolidate with a fear of threat to their existence and identity assertion to be India’s national
or official languages through their respective associations.

“It is essential to recognise the distinction between Hindustani and Hindi. The Devanagari-
written in Hindi borrowed greatly from Sanskrit. Urdu, written in a modified Arabic script,
was influenced by Persian and Arabic. Hindustani, the lingua franca of much of northern
India, was a distinct combination of the two languages.”24

During the Indian freedom movement, though there was an unspoken understanding to make
Hindi the language of administration when the subject came up for discussion in the
Constituent Assembly regarding the national language for India, Hindi aficionados had to face
fierce opposition from several quarters. Nehru and Maulana Azad, like Mahatma Gandhi,
wanted Hindustani to be the national language as they thought the common masses would not
accept the Sanskritized Hindi.25 On the other hand, South Indians urged that English remain
the Official language. During deliberations in the Constituent Assembly, demonstrations were
held by the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan to put pressure on the Assembly. The Hindi block won
the national language election by a single vote- 76 vs 77. Article 343 of the Indian
Constitution, which established “Hindi in Devanagari Script as the Official language of the
union”26 and “English as the Associate Official language for the following fifteen years,
resulted from this one-vote majority.”27 In addition, the Constitution allows the continuation
of the usage of English for certain purposes beyond 15 years by legislative statute. However,
when the time came to transfer from English to Hindi after 15 years, the southern population
insisted that English remain the Official language for as long as they desired. However, the
advocates of Hindi - PD Thandan and Govind Das - pressed for the continuation of Hindi
after 15 years. The rigidity of their stance and failure to reach a consensus provided an
opportunity for groups from other non-Hindi areas to sharpen a united front in support of
English. As the impasse between the two parties continued, the Presidential Order 1960 was
passed to thaw the ice that extended indefinitely the time limit set for the switching over to
Associate Language from English to Hindi through the Official Language Act 1963. “The
Official Language Act 1963 section 3 stated that English may be used for official purposes
after 1963.”28

The phrase ‘may be’ was highly diplomatic; it seemed neither for nor against anti-Hindi
groups. Moreover, it was an attempt to buy time. However, under Frank Anthony and S K
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Chatterjee’s leadership, anti-Hindi groups objected to section third. The non-Hindi regions
feared that the abolition of English as an Associate Official Language would have a disastrous
impact that would work to the detriment of the non-Hindi populace. Since English was
perceived as a foreign language, retaining English as an Official Language bonded the Hindi
speakers together.

Consequently, the apprehensions of those whose language was not Hindi were apprehensive
due to the following factors:

1. Endorsement of Hindi by the Official Language Commission in 1956

2. Perception of threat by non-Hindi languages in the implementation of provisions of
Official Language
3. The threat of restriction on their national political participation
4. Loss of power equilibrium between regions

A fair amount of political prominence revolved around Official language for the above
reasons. Nehru wanted a consensual solution to the issue. The non-Hindi group demanded to
replace Section 3, the word ‘may’, with ‘shall’. At the same time, Hindi supporters demanded
that the time limit to change to Hindi be delayed, for which English supporters demanded the
English language’s official status indefinitely.

By this time, the language had become a robust agenda for the 1967 elections. Congress,
which had delayed the process, suffered losses both in the Hindi and non-Hindi belts. The
election results necessitated an amendment to the Official Language Act of 1963. Moreover,
the Official Language Act 1967 provided the official transaction in Hindi and English.

The impact of language on politics could be seen in the 1967 Lok Sabha elections. According
to the Statistical Report on General Elections, 1967 to the Fourth Lok Sabha Volume I, the
520 Lok Sabha seats Indian national Congress contested 516 seats and won 283 seats.
However, the Hindi section within the Congress party lost many seats. Congress won only
120 seats in the Hindi areas, whereas Bharathiya Jan Sangh contested 249 seats and won 35
seats. C.P.M. contested 59 seats and won 19 seats. D.M.K. in Tamil Nadu contested for 26
seats and won 25 seats.29 D.M.K. became rooted in Tamil Nadu. In addition, the number of
non-Congress chief ministers increased, signifying the nexus between language and politics.

[Link].2. State Official Languages: Hindi and English have the equal status of being the
official languages in the Union of India, which the Constitution guarantees. However, the
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Constitution does not fix any criteria to declare a state’s official language. Instead, “Article
345 of the Constitution states that the Legislature of a state may adopt any one or more
languages in use in the state or Hindi as the language or other languages to be used for all or
any of the official purposes of the state.”30 Presently, 22 languages are recognised in India by
the various states as the official languages.

It is to be noted that the State Official Languages are also becoming vulnerable. National
Education Policy 2020 accepts this fact: “Moreover, even those languages of India that are
not officially on such endangered lists, such as the 22 languages of Eighth Schedule of the
Constitution of India, are facing serious difficulties on many fronts.” 31 When we compare the
census report of 1971 with 2001 regarding the number of 22 scheduled languages, the
following things become clear: Hindi is the only language that has seen a steady increase in
speakers in the last 40 years, from 36.99% in 1971 to 43.63% in 2011. Other languages that
have seen an increase in their speakers are Punjabi, Mythili, and Nepali. 32 The rise in the
number of Hindi speakers could be attributed to the efforts and means prescribed in the
Constitution to spread Hindi. Its status as a number one language owes its debt to mass
media’s efforts, especially Hindi cinema.

Interestingly, the National Education Policy has voiced concern about the fragility of
Scheduled languages; its primary goal is “education in the ‘local language’ or mother tongue
and multilingualism.”33 The strategy emphasises the study of “Indian classical languages such
as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Pali, Persian, Prakrit, and Sanskrit, as well as
foreign languages like French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese.” 34 However, in their
effort to safeguard their official languages, States may lag in implementing National
Education Policy in its spirit. For instance, since the Karnataka government has made
Kannada the State’s official language and the first language at the graduate level, 35 non-
Kannada students have to study Kannada, which goes against the democratic principle and
spirit of National Education Policy 2020. Owing to the Karnataka government’s above
decision, the second language opted for by the majority of the students will be English, as it is
attributed to numerous career opportunities.

While acknowledging the vulnerable position of the Indian Union’s States’ Official
Languages, it is important to focus on the Constitutional provision provided to the states to
have one or more official languages. The list is as follows:

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 Table 1
Official Languages of the States in India36

Sl. No. State Language/s

1 Andhra Pradesh Telugu and Urdu
2 Arunachal Pradesh English
3 Assam Assamese, English and Bengali
4 Bihar Hindi and Urdu
5 Chhattisgarh Hindi and Chhattisgarhi
6 Goa Konkani, Marathi and English
7 Gujarat Gujarati
8 Haryana Hindi and Punjabi
9 Himachal Pradesh Hindi and English
10 Jammu and Kashmir Urdu and English
11 Jharkhand Santali, Oriya and Bengali
12 Karnataka Kannada
13 Kerala Malayalam and English
14 Madhya Pradesh Hindi
15 Maharashtra Marathi
16 Manipur Manipuri and English
17 Meghalaya English, Garo and Khasi
18 Mizoram Mizo
19 Nagaland English
20 Odisha Oriya
21 Punjab Punjabi
22 Rajasthan Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu
23 Sikkim Nepali
24 Tamil Nadu Tamil and English
25 Telangana Telugu and Urdu
26 Tripura Bengali and Kokborok
27 Uttar Pradesh Hindi and Urdu
28 Uttarakhand Hindi and Sanskrit
29 West Bengal Bengali, English and Nepali

Source: Maps of India.

A State in India can have multiple official languages, known as Additional Official
Languages. Article 347 states that “when a Special provision relating to a language spoken by
a portion of a state’s population requests recognition of that language on their behalf, the
President may if he is satisfied, direct that the language is officially recognised throughout the
entire state or any portion thereof for such purposes as he may specify.” 37 There are two
official languages in Andhra Pradesh, Telugu and Urdu. Bengal has Bengali and Bodo.

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Jharkhand has Hindi and 15 other languages; Sikkim has four official languages and eight
Additional Official Languages. The following five states and one Union Territory in India use
English as their official language: Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, and
Tripura, as well as Chandigarh. “Hindi is the official language of Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Utter Pradesh and
Uttarkhand.”38 Sanskrit, which 24,821 people speak in India according to the 2011 Census, is
the “Additional Official Language of the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.” 39

[Link] Scheduled Languages: “Articles 343 to 351 of the XVII section of the Indian
Constitution outline the scheduled languages for official use. The 22 languages are recognised
as Scheduled and get government recognition and support.”40 Hindi has the highest number of
speakers among the 22 Scheduled Languages, whereas Sanskrit has the lowest number. If the
number of Hindi speakers is 52,83,47,193, then the total number of Sanskrit speakers would
be 24,821. Out of the 99 non-scheduled languages, 85 languages have more than 25,000 or
more speakers than Sanskrit speakers, yet they are not recognised as Scheduled languages.41

Table 2

RANKING OF THE LANGUAGES LISTED IN THE 2011 CENSUS REPORT

ORDERED BY SPEAKER STRENGTH42

Sl. No. Language Persons who returned the Percentage of the total
language as their mother tongue population
1 2 3 4
1 Hindi 52,83,47,193 43.63
2 Bengali 9,72,37,669 8.03
3 Marathi 8,30,26,680 6.86
4 Telugu 8,11,27,740 6.70
5 Tamil 6,90,26,881 5.70
6 Gujarati 5,54,92,554 4.58
7 Urdu 5,07,72,631 4.19
8 Kannada 4,37,06,512 3.61
9 Odia 3,75,21,324 3.10
10 Malayalam 3,48,38,819 2.88
11 Punjabi 3,31,24,726 2.74
12 Assamese 1,53,11,351 1.26

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 13 Maithili 1,35,83,464 1.12
14 Santali 73,68,192 0.61
15 Kashmiri 67,97,587 0.56
16 Nepali 29,26,168 0.24
17 Sindhi 27,72,264 0.23
18 Dogri 25,96,767 0.21
19 Konkani 22,56,502 0.19
20 Manipuri 17,61,079 0.15
21 Bodo 14,82,929 0.12
22 Sanskrit 24,821 N
N - Stands for negligible.

Source: Census of India 2011.

According to a report by the Hindu dated December 1, 2009, the Human Resource Ministry
has received requests to include the following 38 languages in the Eighth Schedule: “Angika,
Banjara, Bazika, Bhojpuri, Bhoti, Bhotia, Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi, Dhatki, English,
Garhwali (Pahari), Gondi, Gujjar/Gujjari, Ho, Kachchhi, Kamtapuri, Karbi, Khasi, Kodava
(Coorg), Kokborok(Tripuri), Kumaoni (Pahari), Kurak, Kurmali, Lepcha, Limbu, Mizo
(Lushai), Magahi, Mundari, Nagpuri, Nicobarese, Pahari (Himachali), Pali, Rajasthani,
Sambalpuri/Kosali, Shaurseni (Prakrit), Siraiki, Tenyidi, and Tulu.”43

Many want to include their language in the Eighth Schedule for Constitutional recognition.
Initially, the Eighth Schedule included 14 languages. Now, there are 22 languages.44 Among
these three languages -Bengali, Urdu and Nepali- are the National Languages of Indian
neighbouring countries Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. Sindhi alone is not a state or
Associate State Language of any State. “English is not listed in the Eighth Schedule since it is
the Official Associate Language of the country and the official language of seven states and
union territories.”45

The Official National Language, Hindi, is included in the Eighth Schedule. Multiple scripts
are used to write Santali and Konkani, suggesting that the Constitution recognises India as a
multi-script and linguistic nation. Since the Constitution does not establish the prerequisites
for a language’s admission in the Eighth Schedule, the government created two commissions
in 1996 and 2003 under the leadership of Phawa and Sitakant Mohapatra, respectively, to
clarify the subject.46

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The Committee delivered its report in 2004. The Committee suggested that the government
make internal judgments about the pending requests to incorporate the languages in the
Eighth Schedule. The Committee did not establish a timeline for considering inclusion
requests. 2012 saw the formation of an inter-ministerial committee under the Ministry of
Internal Affairs. It included representatives from the Department of Personnel and Training,
the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the Ministry of Law
and Justice, the Sahitya Academy, the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore, and
the Registrar General of India. Despite satisfying objective requirements for inclusion in the
Eighth Schedule on many occasions, they could not be finalised. Because according to the
reply of Mr Kiran Rijiju, Ministry of State Affairs, on November 29 2016, in the Parliament,
“The problem is that as the evolution of dialects and languages is dynamic, influenced by
socio-eco-political developments, it is difficult to fix any criterion for languages, whether to
distinguish them from dialects, or for inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of
India. Thus, both attempts, through the Pahwa (1996) and Sitakant Mohapatra (2003)
Committees, to evolve such fixed criteria have not borne fruit.” 47

The conditions proposed in a Santali Bhasha Morcha memorandum to add language in the
Eighth Schedule are appropriate.

1. “The spokespeople of the language must have the backing of cultural associations and
organisations.
2. It must be a member of a language group with many speakers.
3. It must contain an extensive collection of literature recognised by the Kendra Sahitya
Academy.

In addition to being taught in schools and universities, the language must have its script and
publications, such as newspapers and journals.”48

These criteria may force the languages to develop to be included in the Schedule. However,
the criteria like the absence of scripts, written corpus of literature, and publications in the
language are irrational because languages of India are oral in nature and languages having
their independent scripts are only a few. Additionally, various political and economic factors
affect whether languages are included in the Constitution’s Eighth Schedule: Languages in the
Eighth Schedule get social motivations, business, money-related and educational advantages,
enrolment of the Official Language Commission and interpretation benefits in the Parliament.

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A sense of superiority and Identity attached to the scheduled language motivates various
language communities to make a similar demand for their language. However, despite the
Constitution recognising the language rights of linguistic minorities, it is not an easy task.

[Link] Classical Languages: Classical language refers to any ancient prestigious language
like Latin or Sanskrit, formally learned and used as a measure against other languages.
Usually, a classical language is contrasted with a vernacular language. It possesses various
types of literary genres and texts. It may also possess the manuscripts of scriptural texts.

In India, Classical language is a distinction awarded to a language by the Government of

India. Five languages that enjoy classical languages status are Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam,
Telugu and Sanskrit.

Ambika Soni articulated the criteria for determining a language’s ability to be classified as
classical on August 8 2006, to the question asked by Shree Janardhana Poojari and Shree
Sanappa. As a result, the Rajya Sabha received the following information about the criteria
for designating a language as ‘Classical’: According to data presented in the Rajya Sabha, the
criteria for designating a language as ‘Classical’ are as follows:

According to the information submitted in the Rajya Sabha, the following are the
requirements for designating a language as “Classical”:

“High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history of 1500-2000 years; 2. A body of ancient
literature/texts is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers 3. The literary
tradition should be original and not borrowed from another speech community; 4. The
classical language and literature being distinct from modern.”49

In 2004, Tamil was recognised as the first classical language, followed by Sanskrit in 2005,
Kannada and Telugu in 2008, Malayalam in 2013 and Odiya in 2014.

However, though Pali meets all these criteria, the government has not accorded classical
language status.

A language enjoys the following benefits by being declared a classical language:

1. “Two major international awards for the scholars of eminence in classical languages are
awarded annually.

2. A Centre of Excellence for students in the classical language is set up

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3. Professional Academic Chairs for Classical languages in Central Universities under
U.G.C.”50

5. LANGUAGE ARRANGEMENT AS INDICATED BY UNESCO:

“Unfortunately, Indian languages have not received the attention and care they deserve, and
the country has lost over 220 languages in the last fifty years alone. UNESCO has deemed
197 Indian languages to be ‘endangered’. Numerous unwritten languages are particularly at
risk of extinction. Moreover, the 22 languages of the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of
India, which are not listed on such endangered language lists, face significant challenges on
many fronts.”51 This alarm raised by the National Education Policy 2020 necessitates paying
attention to the classification of the 2018 UNESCO Atlas of the World Languages in Danger
which endeavours to enlighten on the issues of Endangered Languages. Its fundamental target
is to defend the world’s phonetic variety among policymakers. As indicated by the Atlas,
almost 3000 dialects have gotten endangered worldwide, and 230 dialects have gotten extinct
since 1950.52

According to Atlas, the safety or vulnerability of a language is decided by inter-generation

language transmission and the degree of endangerment. On these two criteria, languages can
be divided as 1) Safe, 2) Vulnerable, 3) Definitively endangered, 4) Severally endangered, 5)
Critically endangered, and 6) Extinct.

The endangerment of a language is gauged by the amount of ‘trouble in’ a language. Based on
this criterion, the Classification of Endangered Languages is as follows:

1. “Vulnerable: Most children speak the language, although it may be confined to certain
contexts, such as the home.

2. Endangered: A ‘Mother tongue’ or language is no longer taught to children at home.

According to UNESCO, 196 languages in India are endangered. Koraga, Kuruba and Irula
languages of Karnataka are on the Endangered list.

3. Severely Endangered: Although the parental generation may comprehend the language,
they may not communicate in that language to their children.

4. Critically endangered: The youngest speakers are grandparents and older; they speak the
language seldom and partially.

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5. Extinct: No more people can communicate in a particular language. It has no living
descendants.

6. Dead Language: A language unknown and used in a particular written form but not as an
ordinary spoken language for everyday communication.”53

Language death, also called Linguicide, happens when a language loses its native speakers.
Another reason for hastening language extinction is cultural and economic globalisation or
increasing economic integration at the national and international levels. As a result,
communicating and conducting business in the world’s top lingua franca, such as English,
Chinese, Spanish, and French, can become easier.

Language Revival: Language revival is an attempt to slow the extinction of a language. The
revitalisation of a language is a continual and ongoing process. For example, no other
language is resurrected but Hebrew. Continued attempts by the Indian government to
revitalise the Sanskrit language are noteworthy. Language revival is an intensive endeavour to
teach a recently extinct language to its speakers. Language revival or resuscitating is an
attempt to reverse or prevent a language’s decline or resurrect an extinct language. This
process includes linguists, cultural or commercial groups, and governments as participants.

Language Revitalisation is urgently required due to the recent loss of linguistic variety. An
estimated two thousand languages have been extinct in the last century. The UNESCO
assessment indicates that fifty per cent of popular languages have less than ten thousand
speakers. Out of the 1,369 rationalised languages, only 270 are recognised as identifiable
mother tongues with 10,000 or more speakers, according to the Census of India in 2011. Out
of 270 acknowledged languages, the number of mother tongues was 123 and categorised as
Scheduled languages. Out of these 270 acknowledged languages, 147 were categorised as
Non-Scheduled languages54, meaning that more than 99 languages require revitalisation.

6. FINDINGS OF THE CHAPTER:

Analysis of the ‘Status of the Languages in India’ reveals the following noteworthy facts:

6.1. Classification of languages is done with a purpose. The purpose and the agent of
classification are important to understand the Language Politics included in the classifications
of the languages of India. The purpose of Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India varies from
the purpose of the People’s Linguistic Survey of India. Suppose the Linguistic Survey of
India had a political purpose, the purpose of the People’s Linguistic Survey of India has a
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sociological and cultural purpose. A linguistic survey of India under the leadership of
Grierson wanted the classification of languages for the effective administration of British
India. Since he came from a monolingual country, he could not comprehend the multicultural
diversity of India. The purpose of the survey of Indian languages for him was to attain better
control over the administration of India, and it is because the administration from
monolingual countries presumes many languages as a nuisance and economically
burdensome.

6.2. On the contrary, the purpose and the background of classifying the languages according
to the Constitution differ. It is to be noted that enough groundwork had taken place before the
declaration of Hindi as the Official Language. Years of labour of Hindi Pracharini Sabha and
its opposition to Urdu and Muslim Identity are visible in declaring Hindi as the Official
language of India. The foresight of a statesman, Nehru, is conspicuous in upholding India’s
multicultural spirit and keeping India open to international communication by choosing
English as the Associate Official Language. Moreover, the continuation of English as the
Associate Official Language for an indefinite period, the rise of Dravidian parties in Tamil
Nādu, and the loss of the Congress Party’s power in Tamil Nādu in the General Election held
in 1967 are indicators of the power of the language in Indian politics.

6.3. Further, the number of languages in the Scheduled List increased gradually from 14 to
18 and from 18 to 22 because of the Political clout enjoyed by some languages. The clout for
a language was motivated by the recognition of linguistic Identity, financial, and other
benefits and status enjoyed by the languages in the Eighth Schedule. As a result, more than 38
languages are in the pipeline, demanding their inclusion in the Eighth Schedule. The absence
of definite criteria for the declaration of a language in the Eighth Schedule and the
inconsistent use of the existing criteria are also responsible for discrimination and
favouritism.

However, when a language presses for its inclusion either in the Eighth Schedule or for
Classical Language nomenclature through language agitations or movements, they are
movements against the domination of other languages on self and not to maintain the purity of
the language. For example, the Maithili Movement is not to maintain linguistic purity but to
fight for linguistic Identity and, as Tarakant Jha reiterated in 2004, “to fight for the realisation
of Mithila State.”55 The Maithili Language Movement was against Hindi, which considered
Maithili a dialect of Hindi and ended when Maithili was recognised as one of the Scheduled
Languages in 2003.
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Moreover, such demands for inclusion in the Eight Schedule or bestowal of Classical status
for a language are not just demands for the purity of the language but the identity recognition
and identity assertion for its uniqueness. For example, when Tamils protested when many
Sanskrit words were used in science textbooks in Tamil Nadu. They wanted education, music
and even worship in their mother tongue. As Lisa Mitchell writes: “Tamil worship movement
challenged existing use of Sanskrit for the temple and other ritual use again advocating
mother tongue for specialised practices.”56 Therefore, Classifications of languages or demands
for the inclusion of language in the Eighth Schedule are not agitations for the purity of the
language but an admixture of anger, helplessness, and anxiety against Hindi, along with
identity recognition or reinforcement.

6.4. Selective amnesia and opportunism were part of the politics for not declaring the Pali as
the Classical Language even though it fulfilled all the criteria set by the Parliament. Since it
lacked political clout and language passions of other Classical Languages, like Sanskrit,
Tamil, Kannada and Telugu, Pali failed to ascend the status.

6.5. The Government’s Rationalisation policy is also responsible for language death.
According to the Census Department’s report, there were 6661 raw Mother Tongue returns in
2001. These raw returns were scrutinised to check whether they were natural languages or
designations provided by the respondents. The Rationalisation reduced the number of mother
tongues from 6661 to 1635, by which 26 languages were assigned to the category ‘Others’.
The 1635 mother tongues were further analysed under the existing linguistic information, and
only mother tongues with more than 10000 speakers were considered appropriate languages
for the presentation in the 2001 Census Report. As a result, only 122 languages could appear
on the list. It means 22 languages included in the Eight Schedule and 100 languages with
more than 10000 speakers. In other words, out of the 1661 total raw return mother tongues,
1539 languages were relegated to ‘others’. The number of speakers included in the ‘other’
category was 17 62,388.57

The reiteration by the National Education Policy 2020-2021 that 220 languages were lost
solely in the last 50 years is one of the examples of how Reductionist Policy is one of the
reasons for Language Death. It further states that “UNESCO has deemed 197 Indian
languages to be ‘endangered’ and that several unwritten languages are at risk of extinction.
National Educational Policy 2020 also acknowledges that 22 languages included in the
Constitution’s Eighth Schedule confront significant obstacles.” 58 “To preserve and promote

154
culture, one must preserve and promote a culture’s language.” 59 If the aspirations of the
N.E.P.2020 are to be realised, a change in the language policy is essential.

On October 9, 2022, a Parliamentary Committee advised that technical and non-technical

higher education institutes like I.I.T.s in Hindi-speaking states should teach in Hindi and, in
other areas, the local language. In addition, it pushed for Hindi to become a U.N. language.
The Committee of Parliament on Official Language, led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah,
advocated prioritising local languages over English in all states in its 11th report to President
Droupadi Murmu. The Committee also recommended that all technical and non-technical
institutions in the nation should teach in Hindi or the native language, with English as an
optional second language. Vice-chairman Bhartruhari Mahtab advocated that I.I.T.s, Central
Universities, and Kendriya Vidyalayas in Hindi-speaking states teach in Hindi and, in other
areas, the local language. Panellists recommended. 60

The above recommendations have come under sharp criticism, arguing they are against
India’s multicultural, federal and constitutional spirit as they give rise to unwanted linguistic
agitations and disputes between the Centre and States. It raises doubt regarding the imposition
and imperialism of Hindi. ‘We are Indians, not Hindians’ slogans have appeared in protest. It
creates a feeling of job insecurity in the non-Hindi regions in the Government Sector. It is
irrational as it reduces the chances of Indian youth becoming competent in the International
Job market because of their possible non-proficiency in English. Moreover, according to
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, if 70.26 lakh Indians had moved abroad for work in
2020, 82.48 lakh Indians left on job visas in 2021. 61 When the Government cannot provide
jobs to its educated youth, further mitigating their chances of obtaining jobs abroad by
imposing them to study technical subjects in Hindi and vernacular and reducing them
unemployable is understandable. The government’s rebuttal that it would stop the brain drain
could have been acceptable if it had provided jobs for its educated youth.

However, those who support the Panel’s views argue that English symbolises Colonialism.
They also say that Japan and China have progressed without English. Moreover, they argue
that no one is hindered from learning English but using it as a medium of instruction. Further,
they contend that instruction in the mother tongue is best is a fact accepted all over the world
by all Cognitive Psychologists.

Nevertheless, the problem may not seem simple in a multicultural India, where the Mother
Tongue is not the same as the Regional Language of millions of people. In Karnataka, for

155
example, Kannada is the Mother Tongue of 64% of people. Moreover, countries such as
Japan and China have altered their approach to teaching foreign languages and started
emphasising English. It is also well-known that in 2001, the Chinese Ministry of Education
announced a policy for teaching foreign languages to pupils in primary schools. According to
this policy, kids must begin studying English as a required subject in the third grade. 62

In 2011, the Japanese government’s Ministry of Education made learning English a

requirement for Middle and High School students. Moreover, it has now been made
mandatory for children in grades 3 and upwards in primary schools, meaning that the typical
kid will have to attend English classes for nearly 8 years. 63 Further, the Karnataka High Court
ruled that the wards’ parents have the right to choose the medium of their ward’s instruction.
Therefore, when parents desire their children to study English in English medium with a
desire for better job and life prospects, the government’s initiative to introduce Hindi as a
medium of instruction in I.I.T.s seems politically motivated to impose Hindi.

However, despite Indian languages being an exquisite panorama of six language families,
language has not been a significant conflict issue in ancient India. The realisation of the
language as the power of conflict came to the forefront only after the division of Bengal by
the British, for whom monolingual European nations were normal and multilingual nations
from various language families was a wonder. Grierson’s linguistic survey for the first-time
revealed India being a home for many language families: Aryans in the North, Dravidians in
the South, Astro-Asiatic in the Centre, and Tibeto-Burmese in the north-eastern parts of India,
nevertheless being integrated is the greatness. Despite Sanskrit, Tamil and Kannada enjoying
the privilege of being the oldest languages of India, the language that occupies the highly-
spoken language of India is Hindi, along with the official language status. Hence,
undoubtedly, the elite support and political interest coroneted the 500-year-old language of
Delhi to that position.

7. CONCLUSION:

Today, despite having multiple classifications of languages, no language in India can claim
that it enjoys pure existence. On inter-state borders, there is a twilight existence of languages
where the people on the borders of states can communicate either or at least a mixture of both
languages. Borders of Kerala and Karnataka states or the borders of Maharashtra and Andhra
Pradesh are examples of this. Though linguists presume that all languages can express
whatever they wish accurately, expression may not be easy for any language. Therefore,
languages borrow words from other languages for easy usage and clear communication. For
156
example, Hindi and Urdu have become rich because Hindi has copiously borrowed from
Sanskrit Urdu from Arabic. Today no language can boast that it has not borrowed the
vocabulary from English. For example, words like Covid, lockdown, tube-light, computer,
laptop, etc., are used in all languages, irrespectively, by literate or illiterate people. Because of
this, English is considered a global language. It uses give-and-take-policy borrows from other
languages. Last year Oxford Learners Dictionary included 26 Indian words, including
Aadhaar, Chawal, Dhaba, Hartal and Shaadi. 64 Some words anglicised from Indian languages
are idly, chutney, puri, chapati, achcha, bachcha, bada din, Bapu, Bas, bhelpuri, badmash,
Chakka, Didi, Desh Devi, Dhaba, vada, pappad, funda, Natak, chamcha etc.

While comparing the Kannada and Konkani Thesauruses edited by Rev. Prashanth Madtha
for the word ‘money’, the English words like Paise, Paisa, Rupee, Currency, Note, and Cash
are found in both Kannada Padanidhi65 and Konkani Thesar.66 This shows that no language
can claim independent existence. Moreover, the titles of Hindi movies are often either in
English or mixed. For instance, ‘2 States, 3 Idiots, Being Cyrus, Bengali Night, Black Mail,
Break Ke Bad, Bunty and Bubbly, Bullet Raja, Dear Zindagi, English Vinglish etc.’

Additionally, as any language differs every seven miles and has various dialects, which
represents the purity of the language is difficult to judge. For example, Konkani has 42
dialects and is written in 5 scripts. Although all may claim that theirs is a pure language, this
authenticity is always debatable.

No language can boast that its vocabulary is devoid of other languages’ words because the
words like television, computer, laptop, pump-set, fan, switch, etc., are found in many
languages. Despite it, if there is a movement for the purity of the language, it is for a
particular identity. If a movement vaguely could be attributed to a language’s purity, it was
for Hindi. Nevertheless, it was not for the purity of Hindi but the purification of Hindi from
Persian words and the hybridisation of Hindi with Sanskrit.

157
 END NOTES

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5. Lyovin, V. Anatole. 1997. An Introduction to the Languages of the World. New York:
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6. Ibid. P. 24.
7. Ibid. P. 29.
8. McArthur, Tom. 2005. The Oxford Concise Companion to the English Language. New
York: Oxford University Press. P. 386.
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Languages of India According to the Indian Census Report

158
INDO-EUROPEAN*: a. INDO-ARYAN, b. IRANIAN, c. GERMANIC
DRAVIDIAN: 1. Coorgi/Kodagu, 2. Gondi, 3. Jatapu, 4. Kannada(S), 5. Khond/Kondh, 6.
Kisan, 7. Kolami, 8. Konda, 9. Koya, 10. Kui, 11. Kurukh/Oraon, 12. Malayalam(S), 3. alto,
14. Parji, 15. Tamil(S), 16. Telugu(S), 17. Tulu.

AUSTRO-ASIATIC: 1. Bhumji, 2. Gadaba, 3. Ho, 4. Juang, 5. Kharia, 6. Khas, 7.

Koda/Kora, 8. Korku, 9. Korwa, 10. Munda, 11. Mundari, 12. Nicobarese, 13. Santali(S), 14.
Savara.

TIBETO-BURMESE: 1. Adi, 2. Snal, 3. Angami, 4. Ao, 5. Balti, 6. Bhotia, 7. Bodo(S), 8.

Chakesang, 9. Chakru/Chokri, 10. Chang, 11. Deori, 12. Dimasa, 13. Gangte, 14. Garo, 15.
Halam, 16. Hmar, 17. Kabui, 18. Karbi/Mikir, 19. Khezha, 20. Khieungan, 21. Kinnauri, 22.
Koch, 23. Kom, 24. Konyak, 25. Kuki, 26. Ladakhi, 27. Lahauli, 28. Lakher, 29. Lalung, 30.
Lepcha, 31. Liangmei, 32. Limbu, 33. Lotha, 34. Lushai/Mizo, 35. Manipuri(S), 36. Maram,
37. Maring, 38. Miri/Mishing, 39. Mishmi, 40. Mogh, 41. Monpa, 42. Nissi/Dafla, 43. Nocte,
44. Paite, 45. Pawi, 46. Phom, 47. Pochury, 48. Rabha, 49. Rai, 50. Rengma, 51. Sangtam, 52.
Sema, 53. Sherpa, 54. Simte, 55. Tamang, 56. Tangkhul, 57. Tangsa, 58. Thado, 59. Tibetan,
60. Tripuri, 61. Vaiphei, 62. Wancho, 63. Yimchungre, 64. Zelaiang, 65. Zemi, 66. Zou.

SEMITO-HAMITIC: 1. Arabic/Arbi

INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES*
a. INDO-ARYAN: 1. Assamese(S), 2. Bengali(S), 3. Bhili/Bhilodi, 4. Bishnapuriya, 5.
Dogri(S) 6. Gujarati(S), 7. Halabi, 8. Hindi(S), 9. Kashmiri(S), 10. Khandeshi,11. Konkani(S)
12. Lahnda, 13. Maithili(S), 14. Marathi(S), 15. Nepali(S), 16. Oriya(S), 17. Punjabi(S), 18.
Sanskrit(S), 19. Shina, 20. Sindhi(S), 21. Urdu(S).

b. IRANIAN: 1. Afghani/Kabuli/Pashto, 2. Persian

c. GERMANIC: 1. English
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P. 301.

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162
 CHAPTER FIVE

LANGUAGES IN INDIA TODAY

CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. Mother Tongue Debate in India
3. Mother Tongue and Identity
4. Multilingualism and Mother Tongue Identity
5. Language Policy and Planning
6. Language Movements Today
7. Findings of the Chapter
8. Conclusion

END NOTES

163