Lok Sabha Question No. 292 (STARRED), answered on 2021-03-16
Subject: Languages in Eighth Schedule
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Sunil Kumar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *292

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 16 TH  MARCH, 2021/ PHALGUNA 25, 1942 (SAKA)

LANGUAGES IN EIGHTH SCHEDULE

†*292. SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a)  the  details  of date  on  which  recognition has been granted to each of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution;

(b) the names  of  States where  the  said languages  recognized  by  the Constitution are spoken and the total population which speak those languages, language-wise and region-wise;

(c) whether crores of people in the country speak Bhojpuri;

(d) whether the Union Government proposes to include Bhojpuri and Rajasthani in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution;

(e) if so, the time by which the said languages are likely to be included therein; and

(f) if not, the reasons therefor?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

(a)  to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  to  (f)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION No. 292 FOR 16.03.2021

(a): A total of 22 languages of India are specified under the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India. The details of date on which recognition has been granted  to  each  of  the  languages  included  in  the  Eighth  Schedule  are  as under:-

- (i) 14 languages viz. Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu  were  initially  included  in  the  Constitution  i.e.  on  26  January, 1950.
- (ii)   Sindhi language was included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution on 10.04.1967.
- (iii)      Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali languages were included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution on 31.08.1992.
- (iv)   Bodo, Dogri, Maithili & Santhali languages was included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution on 07.01.2004.

(b):  Several of these languages are spoken in several States, and their use is not restricted by State boundaries. As per the information received from the Registrar General of India, details of speakers of Scheduled languages as per Census  2011  is available in the public domain  on  the following link: https://censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language-2011/Statement-4.pdf. A copy of the same is also placed at Annexure.

## L.S.S.Q.NO. 292 FOR 16.03.2021

(c):  As per 2011 Census, Bhojpuri is spoken by 5,05,79,447 numbers of people in India.

(d)  to  (f):  There  have  been  demands  from  time  to  time  for  inclusion  of Rajasthani  and  Bhojpuri  in  the  Eighth  Schedule  to  the  Constitution.    As  the evolution of dialects and languages is a dynamic process, influenced by sociocultural, economic and 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.  The  earlier  attempts,  through  the Pahwa  (1996)  and  Sitakant  Mohapatra  (2003)  Committees,  to  evolve  such fixed criteria have been inconclusive. Government of India is conscious of the sentiments  and  requirements  for  inclusion  of  other  languages  in  the  Eighth Schedule.  Such  requests  have  to  be  considered  keeping  in  mind  these sentiments, and the other relevant considerations. Since at present there are no fixed criteria for any language to be considered for inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution, no time-frame can be fixed for consideration of the  demands for  inclusion  of  more  languages  in  the  Eighth  Schedule  to  the Constitution.

*********

## Statement showing the information in respect of part (b) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 292 for 16.03.2021

| SCHEDULED LANGUAGES IN SPEAKERS' STRENGTH - 2011   | SCHEDULED LANGUAGES IN SPEAKERS' STRENGTH - 2011   | SCHEDULED LANGUAGES IN SPEAKERS' STRENGTH - 2011         | SCHEDULED LANGUAGES IN SPEAKERS' STRENGTH - 2011   |
|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                             | Language                                           | Persons who returned the language as their mother tongue | Percentage to totalpopulation                      |
| 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                                               |
| 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                                                  |