Lok Sabha Question No. 4371 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-23
Subject: Language in Eighth Schedule
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Devji Mansingram Patel, Bhagirath Chaudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4371

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 23 RD  MARCH, 2021/ CHAITRA 2, 1943 (SAKA)

LANGUAGE IN EIGHTH SCHEDULE

†4371. SHRI DEVJI M. PATEL: SHRI BHAGIRATH CHOUDHARY:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a)  the  names  of  States  where  Constitutionally  recognised  langauges  are spoken in the country;

(b) the percentage of people by whom these languages are spoken;

(c)  whether  Rajasthani  is  the  most  spoken  language  in  the  country  after Hindi, Bangla, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu;

(d) if so, the comparative details thereof, language-wise;

(e)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  recognise  and  include  Rajasthani language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution by taking all the above facts into consideration as it has been waiting for seventy years for inclusion in the Constitution; and

(f) if so, the time by which it is likely to be included and if not, the reasons therefor?

ANSWER

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

(a) to (d): A  total  of  22  languages  of  India  are  specified  under  the  Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India. Several of these languages are spoken in several States,  and  their use is not restricted by State boundaries. As per

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 4371 FOR 23.03.2021

the information received from the Registrar General of India, the number of persons  and  the  percentage  of  people  who  speak  22  specified  languages under Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India as per Census 2011 is at Annexure. Further, as per Census 2011, Rajasthani is grouped as a mother tongue under Hindi and is spoken by 2,58,06,344 persons.

(e)  to  (f):  There  have  been  demands  from  time  to  time  for  inclusion  of Rajasthani  in  the  Eighth  Schedule  to  the  Constitution.  As  the  evolution  of dialects  and  languages  is  a  dynamic  process,  influenced  by  socio-cultural, 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.

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## ANNEXURE

## STATEMENT SHOWING THE INFORMATION IN RESPECT OF PART (a) TO (d) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4371 FOR 23.03.2021

| S. No.   | Language   | who returned the as their mother tongue   | Percentage to total population   |
|----------|------------|-------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| (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                                |

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