Question : Inclusion of Languages in Eighth Schedule

(a) the name of the languages recognised in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India;

(b) whether the inclusion of several languages in the Eighth Schedule is the result of the long agitations carried out on the basis of regional identify and pressing demand for languages in the country;

(c) if so, the details of the dates and basis for inclusion various languages Eighth Schedule in the Constitution;

(d) whether the concerned States have persistently raised the demands to include Rajasthani, Bhojpuri and Bhoti languages in the Eighth Schedule, if so, the reasons for not including these languages in the Schedule;

(e) whether the Government has received any proposal for inclusion of Rajasthani language in Eighth Schedule after getting it passed unanimously in Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha on 25 August, 2003;

(f) whether the Government proposes to include such languages including Rajasthani language in the Eighth Schedule by passing a bill or issuing a notification, if so, the time by which such languages are linkely to be included; and

(g) if not, the reasons therefor?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI NITYANAND RAI)
(a) to (g): 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 26.01.1950.
(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 were included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution on 07.01.2004.
There have been demands from time to time for inclusion of Rajasthani, Bhojpuri and Bhoti languages 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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