Context: A report submitted by the Official Language Committee headed by Home Minister (though not released yet to the public ) to President Droupadi Murmu has triggered angry reactions.

• Some reports suggest that the reports seek to make Hindi a medium of instruction in higher education, in High Courts and in official use.

• However, States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala are exempt as per The Official Languages Act, 1963 and the Rules and Regulations (of the Act), 1976.

• The law is implemented only in ‘A’ category states, in which the official language is Hindi.

About the Committee of Parliament on Official Language

• It was set up in 1976 under Section 4 of The Official Languages Act of 1963.

• Chaired by: Union Home Minister

• Members: 30 (20 MPs from Lok Sabha and 10 MPs from Rajya Sabha)

• Objective: To review the progress made in the use of Hindi for official purposes, and to make recommendations to increase the use of Hindi in official communications.

• Unique features of the committee: a) Unlike the other Parliamentary panels( constituted by the Parliament), this Committee is constituted by the Home Ministry, b) The panel submits its report to the President not to Parliament like other panels.

About the previous committees of Parliament on Official Language

• The first Report of the Committee was submitted in 1987. The Ninth Report was submitted in 2011. In 2011, the committee made 117 recommendations, including suggestions to increase the use of Hindi in computers in government offices.

• The Committee recommends that all Ministries/Departments should immediately provide facilities of bilingual computers and should train officials…so that they can work in Hindi also.

Major recommendations of the committee of Parliament on Official Language

• Local languages should be given preference over English in all states. Hindi should be given a respectable place in ‘A’ category states and it should be used 100%.

• The medium of instruction in technical and non-technical higher education institutes such as IITs in Hindi-speaking states should be Hindi and in other parts of India their respective local language. The use of English should be made optional in these institutes.

• The committee has suggested Hindi should be given a respectable place in ‘A’ category states, and it should be used 100%. For instance, the higher education institutions such as Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, and Aligarh Muslim University, Hindi is being used only 20-30%, whereas it should be used 100%.

• A total of 193 countries are members of the UN, but not all of them use foreign languages as official languages. The committee is of the opinion that English is a foreign language, and India should do away with this colonial practice. So, the committee is of the opinion that Hindi should be one of the official languages of the United Nations.

Does the recommendation apply to every state government?

• No, States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala are exempt as per The Official Languages Act, 1963 and the Rules and Regulations (of the Act), 1976. The law is implemented only in ‘A’ category states, in which the official language is Hindi.

• Region ‘A’ includes the states of Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, and the Union Territories of Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

• Region ‘B’ includes Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Punjab, and the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Other states, where the use of Hindi is less than 65 per cent, are listed under region ‘C’.