Question : Language in Eighth Schedule

(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?

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

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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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