The part that describes
the official language of the Indian
democracy have to be written to
promote a feeling of unity among
Indian citizens. As we know that even
today anywhere between 300 to 1,000
languages are spoken in India, this
makes an integral part of the Indian
constitution.
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.
Notwithstanding anything in clause
(1), for a period of fifteen years
from the commencement of this
Constitution, the English language
shall continue to be used for all the
official purposes of the Union for
which it was being used immediately
before such commencement: Provided
that the President may, during the
said period, by order authorise the
use of the Hindi language in addition
to the English language and of the
Devanagari form of numerals in
addition to the international form of
Indian numerals for any of the
official purposes of the Union.
Notwithstanding anything in this
article, Parliament may by law provide
for the use, after the said period of
fifteen years, of-
The English language, or
The Devanagari form of numerals, for
such purposes as may be specified in
the law.
Regional
Languages:
Article 345. Official language
or languages of a State:-
Subject to the provisions of articles
346 and 347, the Legislature of a
State may by law adopt any one or more
of the languages in use in the State
or Hindi as the language or languages
to be used for all or any of the
official purposes of that State:
Provided that, until the Legislature
of the State otherwise provides by
law, the English language shall
continue to be used for those official
purposes within the State for which it
was being used immediately before the
commencement of this Constitution.
Article 346. Official language
for communication between one State
and another or between a State and the
Union: -
The language for the time being
authorised for use in the Union for
official purposes shall be the
official language for communication
between one State and another State
and between a State and the Union:
Provided that if two or more States
agree that the Hindi language should
be the official language for
communication between such States,
that language may be used for such
communication.
Article 347. Special provision
relating to language spoken by a
section of the population of a State:
-
On a demand being made in that behalf
the President may, if he is satisfied
that a substantial proportion of the
population of a State desire the use
of any language spoken by them to be
recognised by that State, direct that
such language shall also be officially
recognised throughout that State or
any part thereof for such purpose as
he may specify.
Special Directives: -
Article 350. Language to be
used in representations for redress of
grievances: -
Every person shall be entitled to
submit a representation for the
redress of any grievance to any
officer or authority of the Union or a
State in any of the languages used in
the Union or in the State, as the case
may be.
Article 350A. Facilities for
instruction in mother-tongue at
primary stage: -
It shall be the endeavour of every
State and of every local authority
within the State to provide adequate
facilities for instruction in the
mother-tongue at the primary stage of
education to children belonging to
linguistic minority groups; and the
President may issue such directions to
any State as he considers necessary or
proper for securing the provision of
such facilities.
Article 350B. Special Officer
for linguistic minorities: -
There shall be a Special Officer for
linguistic minorities to be appointed
by the President. It shall be the duty
of the Special Officer to investigate
all matters relating to the safeguards
provided for linguistic minorities
under this Constitution and report to
the President upon those matters at
such intervals as the President may
direct, and the President shall cause
all such reports to be laid before
each House of Parliament, and sent to
the Governments of the States
concerned.
Article 351. Directive for
development of the Hindi language: -
It shall be the duty of the Union to
promote the spread of the Hindi
language, to develop it so that it may
serve as a medium of expression for
all the elements of the composite
culture of India and to secure its
enrichment by assimilating without
interfering with its genius, the
forms, style and expressions used in
Hindustani and in the other languages
of India specified in the Eighth
Schedule, and by drawing, wherever
necessary or desirable, for its
vocabulary, primarily on Sanskrit and
secondarily on other languages.
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