Glossary: Scheduled Languages

DEFINITION:
Article 351 of the Indian constitution allows the government to compile a schedule (list) of languages recognized by the government for use in state legislatures. The Eighth Schedule, written in 1950, lists Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Sindhi was added to the schedule in 1967, and Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali were added in 1992. Article 343 of the constitution designates Hindi written in Devanagari (q.v.) as the official language of India. Even though it was supposed to be phased out by 1965, English continues as India’s other official language for use in Parliament, the Supreme Court, and the high courts unless otherwise authorized by the president.

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