India is a diverse country with diverse cultures, traditions, languages. There are No Particular Official National Languages of India. According to the eighth schedule of the Indian constitution, there are a total of 22 scheduled languages that are widely spoken in different states. But, Hindi is a language spoken by only 40% of the Indian population.
So, this would be a problem for the rest of the majority of the population as everybody would be required to learn Hindi and this is not possible at all. The debate to make Hindi an official language has sparked for decades but to no avail. The Indian constitution does not give rights to any language to be declared as the National language of India.
There are 22 languages that have been recognized in the eighth schedule of the Indian constitution.
Sr. No | Language | Recognition in state |
---|---|---|
1 | Assamese | Assam, Arunachal Pradesh |
2 | Bengali | West Bengal, Tripura |
3 | Bodo | Assam |
4 | Dogri | The official language of Jammu and Kashmir |
5 | Gujarati | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Gujarat |
6 | Hindi | Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal |
7 | Kannada | Karnataka |
Kashmiri | Jammu and Kashmir | |
9 | Konkani | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala (The Konkan Coast) |
10 | Maithili | Bihar, Jharkhand |
11 | Malayalam | Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry |
12 | Manipuri | Manipur |
13 | Marathi | Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu |
14 | Nepali | Sikkim and West Bengal |
15 | Odia | The official language of Orissa |
16 | Punjabi | The official language of Punjab and Chandigarh, 2nd official language of Delhi and Haryana |
17 | Sanskrit | Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand |
18 | Santali | Spoken by Santhal people mainly in the state of Jharkhand as well as in the states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Odisha, Tripura, West Bengal |
19 | Sindhi | Gujarat and Maharashtra, especially Ulhasnagar |
20 | Tamil | Tamil Nadu, Puducherry |
21 | Telugu | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Puducherry |
22 | Urdu | Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, Jharkhand, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal |