What is 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution?

The 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution primarily deals with the languages officially acquired in the Indian states. Earlier there were 14 languages as recognized by the constitution of India. Currently, 22 official Indian languages have been included in the Constitution of India. Download☛ 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution UPSC PDF

How many languages are recognised by the Constitution of India?

Part A of the Indian Constitution includes 22 languages specified in the Eighth Schedule, and languages not specified under the Eighth Schedule (A total of 99) are present in Part B. The languages officially recognized by the Indian constitution include: 270 mother tongues languages 121 languages.

Which language is not included in the 8 schedule of Indian Constitution?

English is not included in Schedule 8 of Indian constitution and majorly lists only the official Indian languages of the Republic of India. When the Indian constitution was drafted, only 14 languages were recognized and mentioned in the 8th Schedule. The rest languages got included through several modifications, but English was missing from the list. Read More Important Articles in Indian Constitution Preamble of Indian Constitution Salient Features of Indian Constitution

Does India have any national language under the 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution?

There is no fixed national language of India according to the Indian Constitution. When drafting the constitution of India, the makers needed clarification about selecting a particular language for the whole country because more than 1,600 languages were spoken in different states of India.

Which language is added to the Schedule 8 of Indian Constitution?

No specific benchmark is considered for incorporating any Indian language in the 8th Schedule. The languages that were added later through amendments under schedule 8 of Indian constitution were: Sindhi language – 1967. Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali – 1992. Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali – 2003.

How many amendments are there in the 8th schedule?

The official language in Schedule 8 of the Indian Constitution includes almost 22 languages. Though, the first constitutional amendment included the Sindhi language surging the number to 15. The official language surged to 15. Then, later after the 71st Amendment of the Indian Constitution, three more languages were added up Konkani, Meitei, and Napali. Bodo, Dogri, Maithali, and Santhali were added up in 2003. The total number of languages surged to 22.

Is Hindi mentioned in the 8th schedule of the constitution?

In cumulative there are 22 languages in the Indian Constitution. Hindi is also an officially recognized language of the Indian Constitution. The languages that have been a part of the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution are recognized officially.

When was Nepali included in the 8th schedule of Indian Constitution?

Initially, there were 14 languages acknowledged in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution. After certain amendments, the number of languages surged to the number of 22. Nepali, Konkani and Manipuri were added in the Indian Constitution in 1992 .

8th schedule of Indian Constitution originally had how many languages?

8th schedule of Indian Constitution initially had 14 languages. However, after amendments subsequently, the total number of languages surged to 22. Nepali, Konkani, Sindhi, Bodo, Dogri, Maithali, and Santhali were added later in the 8th schedule.

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8th Schedule of Indian Constitution – 22 Official Language in Eighth Schedule

By Balaji

Updated on: February 17th, 2023

The 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution is responsible for listing the authorized Indian languages of the Republic. The part of the constitution that deals with the official speeches in India are XVII, included in Articles 343 to 351. No specific benchmark is considered for incorporating any Indian language in the 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution. The Indian Government has committed to uplifting these fundamental Indian languages so that they evolve as an effective medium of communication for modern learning.

The 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution comprises 22 languages. Initially, during the time of framing the Indian Constitution, there were 14 languages included in the 8th Schedule. Several amendments introduced languages like Sindhi, Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali. This article demonstrates important points regarding the 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution, the languages included in the Schedule, and the articles pertaining to the amendment.

Table of content

1. What is the 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution?
2. How Many Languages are Recognized by the Constitution of India?
3. Chronology of 22 Languages of Indian Constitution
4. Aim of 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution
5. Classical Languages in Schedule 8th of Indian Constitution
6. Articles Corresponding to 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution
7. 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution UPSC

What is the 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution?

The Union Minister of Education recently discussed the measures to stimulate the official languages included in the 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution undertaken by the Indian Government. The 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution constitutes the following 22 languages:

Official Languages According to Schedule 8 of Indian Constitution
Assamese	Manipuri
Bengali	Marathi
Bodo	Nepali
Dogri	Odia
Gujarati	Punjabi
Hindi	Sanskrit
Kannada	Santhali
Kashmiri	Sindhi
Konkani	Tamil
Maithili	Telugu
Malayalam	Urdu

How Many Languages are Recognized by the Constitution of India?

Previously, there were 14 official Indian languages in the 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution. Now, the total number of languages in schedule 8 of the Indian Constitution has been increased to 22. The list of languages is given below.

22 Official Language of India with States
Year of Recognition	Total Official Language of India	Popular in Indian State
1,950	Assamese	Assam
1,950	Bengali	West Bengal
1,950	Gujarati	Gujarat
1,950	Hindi	North India
1,950	Kashmiri	Jammu & Kashmir
1,950	Kannada	Karnataka
1,950	Malayalam	Kerala
1,950	Marathi	Maharashtra
1,950	Odia	Odisha
1,950	Punjabi	Punjab
1,950	Sanskrit	Karnataka (Shivamogga District)
1,950	Tamil	Tamil Nadu
1,950	Telugu	Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
1,950	Urdu	Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh
1,967	Sindhi	Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh
1,992	Konkani	Goa
1,992	Manipuri	Manipur
1,992	Nepali	Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh
2,004	Bodo	Assam and Meghalaya
2,004	Dogri	Jammu and Himachal Pradesh
2,004	Maithili	Bihar and Jharkhand
2,004	Santhali	West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha

Chronology of 22 Languages of Indian Constitution

Below are the official Indian languages counted later after many amendments and modifications. The latest revision was done in 2003 and the earliest was performed in 1967.

Schedule language	Amendment in Indian Constitution
Bodo, Dogri, Santhali, and Maithili	92nd Amendment Act of 2003
Konkani, Nepali, and Manipuri	71st Amendment Act of 1992.
Sindhi	21st Amendment Act of 1967.

Aim of 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution

The main objective of the Eighth Schedule is to sustain the nation’s diversity. Making any state language official enables them to make progress and embrace diversification. Therefore, India does not have a national language. The primary goals of the Schedule 8 are as follows:

Allow entry of native individuals to the Government in their indigenous language.
Provide similar expression to the muti-ethical or multi-racial polity.
Fosters trading business more efficiently through standard language backgrounds of the area.
Offers secure scope to the diversity and varied languages in the country.

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Classical Languages in Schedule 8th of Indian Constitution

Six languages have earned the title of Classical languages of India. All classical Indian languages are included in the 8th Schedule of Indian constitution. Tamil was the first language to receive the classical language status in 2004, while Odia was the last one to receive the status in 2014. The languages that enjoy this status are:

Languages	Declared as Classical languages in
Tamil	2004
Sanskrit	2005
Kannada	2008
Telugu	2008
Malayalam	2013
Odia	2014

The languages regarded as Classical languages qualify some criteria listed by the Ministry of Culture; these include:

The tradition of its publications is authentic and not taken from another speech community.
High antiquity of its ancient texts or documented chronology over 1500-2000 years.
It must have antique literature or text assumed a valuable origin by the orators.

Advantages of Classical Language Promotion

The Human Resource and Development Ministry has the authority to declare a language as a classical language and offers certain benefits to boost it. The advantages are:

Establishment of a centre of merit for studies in Classical languages.
Provides two global awards to intellectuals achieving distinction in these languages.
Requests UGC or University Grants Commission to assemble a minimum number of faculties for teaching classical languages in the central institutes.

Articles Corresponding to 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution

There are an overall 12 Schedules of Indian Constitution, and the Constitutional provisions relating to the eighth Schedule of Indian constitution are in articles 344(1) and 351.

Article 344: Article 344(1) offers a constitution by the President for the Commission as soon as it expires after 5 years from the commencement date.
Article 351: This article of the Indian Constitution encourages the Hindi language to be the medium of expression for all mixed Indian cultures.

8th Schedule of Indian Constitution UPSC

Schedule 8 of the Indian constitution is a vital topic for aspirants to learn for IAS Exam. This section is crucial from the UPSC Polity syllabus. Students can make short notes and highlight the main points from the notes that can be revised when the examination is nearest.

Aspirants can also practice the previous year’s question papers after they become thorough with the topic. Candidates can also view the Polity Books for UPSC to know the most recommended textbooks by experts and professors they can explore while preparing for the vast syllabus of UPSC.

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