Context:

The new education policy has made Hindi the center of controversy. The main clause that came under fire was the “3-language formula”, which is seen as a move to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.

Language provisions in the Constitution of the Indian Union

• The Constitution adopted in 1950 stipulated that English and Hindi would be used for the Union’s official business for a period of fifteen years.
• After that time, Hindi was supposed to become the sole official language of the Union.
• It proved impossible to replace English with Hindi, however, because of strong opposition from the southern states, where Dravidian languages were spoken.

India has no national language

• No. India does not have any national language. 
  • A national language is a language that is symbolic of a country, usually for historic, cultural, and ethnic reasons.
  • An official language is only designated for communication at the official level.

The proportion of South Indian language speakers falling

• While high population growth in North India has helped Hindi surge, lower population growth in the five Dravidian language-speaking states – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana – has resulted in the proportion of Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam falling.
• In addition, growing migration from north to south has meant a greater presence of Hindi in the five southern states.

Classical Languages in India

• • Tamil
  • Sanskrit
  • Telugu
  • Kannada
  • Malayalam
  • Odisha.

Government schemes to protect the language

• Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India 
  • Under the scheme “Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India. The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) is working on the protection, preservation, and documentation of endangered languages.
• Atlas of the World’s Language in Danger is prepared by UNESCO.

Important facts on Hindi

• Hindi belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Hindi, along with English, are the official languages of India.
• According to Article 343, “The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in the Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official purpose of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals.
• Hindi was the language that was adopted by Indian leaders as a symbol of national identity during the struggle for freedom.
• Hindi has been used as a literary language since the twelfth century.