Various provisions in the constitution

Part XVII (Articles 343 to 351) is concerned with official language and other Indian languages

Hindi in Devangari script, according to Article 343(1) of the Constitution, is the official language of the union. But provision was also made in Article 343(2) for continuing the use of English in official work for a period of 15 years (i.e. up to 25 January 1965) from the date of the commencement of the Constitution.

Article 343(3) empowered Parliament to provide by law for continued use of English for official purposes even after 25 January 1965.

Accordingly, the Official Languages Act, 1963 (amended in 1967) was passed for continuing the use of English in official work even after 25 January, 1965. The act also lays down that both Hindi and English shall compulsorily be used for certain specified purposes such as resolutions, general orders, rules, notifications, press communiqués, administrative and other reports, licenses, permits, contracts, agreements, etc.

English was to be used for purposes of communication between the Union and state, which has not adopted Hindi as official language. It does not however, prevent such a state from using Hindi for communication with the Union or with a state, which has adopted Hindi as such.

Parliament enacted the Authorised Transactions (Central Laws) Act in 1973 for translations in regional languages other than Hindi under the authority of the President.

Under provisions of section 8 of the 1963 Act, Government has framed the Official (use for official purposes of the union) rules, 1976.

The 58th Amendment Act of 1987 inserted Article 394 A in the Constitution to give effective authority to the Constitution of India translated into Hindi.

Any other language may be recognised for official use in a state or in any part of the state if a substantial popular demand for it exists and a representation is made to the President, according to Article 347.

As for proceedings in the Supreme Court and the High Courts and the authoritative texts of Bills or amendments introduced in any Legislature, Acts of Parliament or State Legislature, orders, rules and bye-laws issued under the Constitution or any law made by Parliament of State Legislature, they shall be in English.

However, State Legislatures may prescribe the use of any language other than English for Bills and Acts that they pass. The Governor may, with the consent of the President, authorise the use of Hindi or any other language used for official purpose in the proceedings.

The Kendriya Hindi PrashikshanSansthan was established on 31 May 1985 as a subordinate office with the object to provide full-time training as also training through correspondence in Hindi language, Hindi stenography and Hindi typing.

RajbhashaPushpamala and Rajbhasha Bharati are the two important magazines of the Department of Official Language. The former is a monthly while the latter is quarterly. A calendar showing RajbhashaKeBadhteCharan in various fields like postal, banking, science and technology, etc. is also being brought out.

The Committee of Parliament on Official Language was constituted in 1976 under Section 4 of the Official Language Act, 1963 which comprised 20 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha. This committee has so far submitted five volumes of its report to the President.

Kendriya Hindi Samiti is constituted under the chairmanship of Prime Minister to coordinate the related efforts and includes some Union Ministers, Chief Ministers of some states, MPs and other learned persons of Hindi and other Indian languages as its members.

Hindi Salahakaar Samitis have been constituted in various ministries/departments under the chairmanship of the ministers concerned.

Central Official Language Implementation Committee reviews the position about the use of Hindi for official purposes of the Central Government.

Town Official Language Implementation Committees constituted in major towns having Central Government offices in sufficient number review the progress made in the use of Hindi in these offices.

The scheme of Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha shield and Indira Gandhi RajbhashaPuraskar was in introduced during 1986-87 to give awards to various ministries/departments, banks and financial institutions, public sector undertakings and individuals for outstanding achievements in this field.

Languages of the states

Schedule VIII enlists 22 languages in the Constitution: Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Kashmiri, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Sindhi, Konkani, Nepali and Manipuri, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili, Dogri.(After 92^nd amendment act, 2004)

Sindhi was added by the twenty-first Amendment Act, 1967.

Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were added by the seventy-first Amendment Act, 1992.

Hindi is to be promoted by the Union so that it can become the lingua franca of the diverse cultures of India. The Union is also directed to strive for enriching Hindi with forms and expressions drawn from other regional languages of India and Sanskrit, according to Article 351.

The state is directed not to reject any representation on the ground of it not being in Hindi: a petitioner can use any of the languages used in the Union or in the state, according to Article 350.

Key terms

Official Language: The Language or languages that are being mandated by the Constitution to be used for official communication purposes. In the original constitution, it was the Hindi in Devangari script as well as the English alongside it to be used for official purposes.

Official Languages Act: An Act enacted by the Indian Parliament in 1963 and as amended in 1967 that extended the use of English Language to be used for official purposes beyond a period of 15 years as was originally provided in the Indian Constitution. This Act thus, permitted the use of English after 1965.

Authorized Translations Act: An Act passed by the Indian Parliament in 1973 that permitted the translations of the text of the Indian Constitution in regional languages other than the Hindi and English as was originally made & available.

58th. Amendment Act: A Constitutional Amendment enacted in 1987 mandating equal authority, sanctity and prestige to the Constitution of India after being translated into Hindi. This Amendment inserted a new Article 394-A into the Constitution regarding this.

Kendriya Hindi PrashikshanSansthan: An Authority established in 1985 to provide full time training to the working officials in Hindi Language so as to ensure its use in official correspondence purposes as much as possible.

RajbhashaPushpamala: A monthly Magazine published by the Department of Official languages, Government of India to promote the increasing use of Hindi language in official communications.

Rajbhasha Bharati: A similar quarterly magazine published by the same department.

Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha shield/ Puraskar: A rewarding scheme introduced by the Government of India during the year 1986-87 to reward those entities that have made an extensive use of Hindi language and its overall promotion and popularity.