Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of a series on the
Constitution of India
Preamble
Parts
I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ IVA ∙ V ∙ VI ∙ VII
VIII ∙ IX ∙ IXA ∙ IXB ∙ X ∙ XI ∙ XII ∙ XIII ∙ XIV
XIVA ∙ XV ∙ XVI ∙ XVII ∙ XVIII ∙ XIX ∙ XX ∙ XXI
XXII
Schedules
First ∙ Second ∙ Third ∙ Fourth ∙ Fifth
Sixth ∙ Seventh ∙ Eighth ∙ Ninth
Tenth ∙ Eleventh ∙ Twelfth
Appendices
I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ V
Amendments
List ∙ 1 ∙ 2 ∙ 3 ∙ 4 ∙ 5 ∙ 6 ∙ 7 ∙ 8 ∙ 9 ∙ 10 ∙ 11 ∙ 12 ∙ 13 ∙ 14 ∙ 15 ∙ 16 ∙ 17 ∙ 18 ∙ 19 ∙ 20 ∙ 21 ∙ 22 ∙ 23 ∙ 24 ∙ 25 ∙ 26 ∙ 27 ∙ 28 ∙ 29 ∙ 30 ∙ 31 ∙ 32 ∙ 33 ∙ 34 ∙ 35 ∙ 36 ∙ 37 ∙ 38 ∙ 39 ∙ 40 ∙ 41 ∙ 42 ∙ 43 ∙ 44 ∙ 45 ∙ 46 ∙ 47 ∙ 48 ∙ 49 ∙ 50 ∙ 51 ∙ 52 ∙ 53 ∙ 54 ∙ 55 ∙ 56 ∙ 57 ∙ 58 ∙ 59 ∙ 60 ∙ 61 ∙ 62 ∙ 63 ∙ 64 ∙ 65 ∙ 66 ∙ 67 ∙ 68 ∙ 69 ∙ 70 ∙ 71 ∙ 72 ∙ 73 ∙ 74 ∙ 75 ∙ 76 ∙ 77 ∙ 78 ∙ 79 ∙ 80 ∙ 81 ∙ 82 ∙ 83 ∙ 84 ∙ 85 ∙ 86 ∙ 87 ∙ 88 ∙ 89 ∙ 90 ∙ 91 ∙ 92 ∙ 93 ∙ 94 ∙ 95 ∙ 96 ∙ 97 ∙ 98 ∙ 99 ∙ 100 ∙ 101 ∙ 102 ∙ 103 ∙ 104 ∙ 105 ∙ 106
Related topics

The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India lists nationally recognised regional languages of the Republic of India. At the time when the Constitution was enacted, inclusion in this list meant that the language was entitled to representation on the Official Languages Commission,[1] and that the language would be one of the bases that would be drawn upon to enrich Hindi and English, the official languages of the Union.[2] The list has since, however, acquired further significance. The Government of India is now under an obligation to take measures for the development of these languages, such that "they grow rapidly in richness and become effective means of communicating modern knowledge."[3] In addition, candidates sitting for an examination conducted for public service are entitled to use any of these languages as a medium to answer the paper.[4]

Scheduled languages[edit]

Kauravi language (evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family) was spoken in ancient Delhi (today's National Capital Territory of Delhi) and ancient north-western Uttar Pradesh (today's Meerut, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Saharanpur and Moradabad) and it was written in the Nagari script (ancient form of today's Devanagari script) with Sanskrit vocabulary.

During the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526), Kauravi was called Khari (Khari means Standing in English language) in Sanskrit language, that Khari language began to be written in the Persian script with Sanskrit-Arabic-Persian vocabulary and it was renamed as Hind-e-stani i.e. Hindustani language (the Sanskrit word Sindh was pronounced as Hind in Arabic-Persian language and ancient Bharat i.e. India was known as Hind-e-stan i.e. Hindustan in Arabic-Persian language).

During the Mughal Empire (1526-1757), a new separate language Urdu (Urdu is a Turkish word which means Army in English language) evolved from that Hindustani language and that new language began to be written in the Persian script with Arabic-Persian vocabulary.

During the British Empire (1757-1947), a new separate language Hindi (the Sanskrit word Sindhi was pronounced as Hindi in Arabic-Persian language) evolved from that Hindustani language and that new language began to be written in the Devanagari script (modern form of ancient Nagari script) with Sanskrit vocabulary, and that Khari language became Khari dialect (Khari-boli in Hindustani) as the main dialect of Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu) and the other north Indian languages, Bhojpuri-Magahi-Maithili (evolved from Magadhi Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family) and Awadhi-Bagheli-Bagri-Bhil-Braja-Bundeli-Chhattisgarhi-Garhwali-Haryanvi-Kannauji-Kumaoni-Malwi-Marwari-Mewari (evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family) became sub-dialects of Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu). After the Independence of India in 1947, only Maithili again became a language under the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.


There is no National Language (Rashtra Bhasa) of India/Republic of India (Indian Union).


According to Articles 344 (1) and 351 of the Constitution of India, the 8th Schedule includes the recognition of twenty two (22) Languages as Official Languages (Raj Bhasha) of India/Republic of India (Indian Union),

  1. Assamese (evolved from Magadhi Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  2. Bengali (evolved from Magadhi Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  3. Bodo (evolved from Sino-Tibetan language family)
  4. Dogri (evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  5. Gujarati (evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  6. Hindi (evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  7. Kannada (evolved from Dravidian language family)
  8. Kashmiri (evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  9. Konkani (evolved from Maharashtri Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  10. Maithili (evolved from Magadhi Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  11. Malayalam (evolved from Dravidian language family)
  12. Manipuri/Meitei (evolved from Sino-Tibetan language family)
  13. Marathi (evolved from Maharashtri Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  14. Nepali (evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  15. Odia (evolved from Magadhi Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  16. Punjabi (evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  17. Sanskrit (evolved from Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  18. Santali (evolved from Austroasiatic language family)
  19. Sindhi (evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)
  20. Tamil (evolved from Dravidian language family)
  21. Telugu (evolved from Dravidian language family)
  22. Urdu (evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)


According to Articles 343 (1), 343 (2) and 343 (3) of the Constitution of India, only two (2) languages are recognized as Official Languages (Raj Bhasha) of the Government of India (Union Government),

  1. English (evolved from West Germanic sub-branch of Germanic branch of Indo-European language family)
  2. Hindi (evolved from Sauraseni Prakrit of Prakrit language of Vedic Sanskrit of Indo-Aryan sub-branch of Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family)


Chronology[edit]

Demands for expansion[edit]

At present, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs,[5][9] there are demands for inclusion of 39 more languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. These are:

  1. Angika
  2. Awadhi
  3. Banjara
  4. Bajjika
  5. Bhojpuri
  6. Bhoti
  7. Bhotia
  8. Bundelkhandi
  9. Chhattisgarhi
  10. Dhatki
  11. English
  12. Garhwali
  13. Gondi
  14. Gujjari
  15. Ho
  16. Kachhi
  17. Kamtapuri
  18. Karbi
  19. Khasi
  20. Kodava
  21. Kokborok
  22. Kurmali
  23. Kumaoni
  24. Kurukh
  25. Lepcha
  26. Limbu
  27. Mizo
  28. Magahi
  29. Mundari
  30. Nagpuri
  31. Nicobarese
  32. Pahari
  33. Pali
  34. Rajasthani
  35. Sambalpuri
  36. Shauraseni Prakrit
  37. Saraiki
  38. Tenyidi
  39. Tulu

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Constitution of India, Article 344(1).
  2. ^ Constitution of India, Article 351.
  3. ^ Official Languages Resolution, 1968, para. 2. Archived March 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Official Languages Resolution, 1968, para. 4. Archived March 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ a b c "Constitutional provisions relating to Eighth Schedule" (PDF). Ministry Of Home Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  6. ^ "The Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment) Act, 1967". Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  7. ^ "The Constitution (Seventy-first Amendment) Act, 1992| National Portal of India". www.india.gov.in. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  8. ^ "The Constitution (Ninety-Sixth Amendment) Act, 2011". eGazette of India. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  9. ^ "Demands to include Awadhi as Scheduled Language".


Stub icon

This article about the law of India is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eighth_Schedule_to_the_Constitution_of_India&oldid=1225338671"