Chronology of Addition of Languages to the Eighth Schedule
The chronology of addition of different languages to the eighth schedule is:
- 1950: Initially 14 languages were included in the Constitution. Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, and Nepali.
- 1967: Sindhi was added by 21st Constitutional Amendment Act.
- 1992: Konkani, Manipuri (Meitei) and Nepali were added by 71st Constitutional Amendment Act.
- 2003: Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali were added by 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act.
- 2011: The spelling of Oriya was replaced by Odia by 96th Constitutional Amendment Act.
Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution
Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution deals with the 22 official languages of India. The languages are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri. These languages were included in the schedule to preserve linguistic diversity and grant special status and protection under the Constitution. The provision can be amended by the parliament to adapt to evolving linguistic considerations. The schedule strengthens the constitutional commitment to unity in diversity.
Table of Content
- List of Language in the Eighth Schedule
- Chronology of Addition of Languages to the Eighth Schedule
- Constitutional Provision Related to the 8th Schedule
- Criteria to Include Language under Eighth Schedule
- Classical Languages
- Benefits of inclusion of Language under the Eighth Schedule
- Steps that Should be Taken to protect the Linguistic Diversity of India
- Demands of languages for inclusion in the Eighth Schedule