Identify the correct statements about the languages in Schedule Eighth of the Indian Constitution- I. Rajasthani is one of the 22…

Question

Identify the correct statements about the languages in Schedule Eighth of the Indian Constitution-

I. Rajasthani is one of the 22 languages currently included in the Eighth Schedule.

II. The languages - Bodo, Dogri and Maithili were added in the Schedule by the 71st Constitutional Amendment Act.

1. A. I only
2. B. II only
3. C. Both I and II
4. D. Neither I nor II (Correct answer)

Correct Answer

Option D — Neither I nor II

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Neither I nor II.

Key Points

• Examining each statement:
  • Statement I is INCORRECT. Rajasthani is NOT one of the 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule. Its inclusion has long been demanded but never granted. Along with Bhojpuri, Tulu and around 35 others, it remains on the pending list.
  • Statement II is INCORRECT. Bodo, Dogri and Maithili were added by the 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003 — not the 71st. The 71st Amendment Act, 1992, added Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali.
• Neither statement is correct.

Additional Information

• The Eighth Schedule originally contained 14 languages and now contains 22, following four amendments:
  • 21st Amendment (1967) — added Sindhi, bringing the total to 15.
  • 71st Amendment (1992) — added Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali, bringing the total to 18.
  • 92nd Amendment (2003) — added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali, bringing the total to 22.
• The 22 languages are: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
• Relevance to Jammu & Kashmir: Kashmiri, Dogri and Urdu all appear in the Eighth Schedule. Under the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Act, 2020, the Union Territory has five official languages — Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi, Urdu and English.
• Classical languages, a separate category from the Eighth Schedule, currently number eleven: Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu and Kannada (2008), Malayalam and Odia (2014), and Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali (2024).
• Note the distinction: the Eighth Schedule concerns official recognition for administrative and examination purposes, and does not by itself make a language an official language of the Union.