How India settled — and keeps managing — the politically sensitive question of an official language.
Article 343 declares Hindi in Devanagari script as the official language of the Union, with English to continue for official purposes for 15 years from the Constitution's commencement (i.e., until 1965). Anti-Hindi agitations, especially in Tamil Nadu, led to the Official Languages Act, 1963 (amended in 1967), which allowed English to continue indefinitely alongside Hindi, effectively "as long as one State wants it".
Article 345 allows a State legislature to adopt its own official language(s) for State-level purposes.
The Eighth Schedule originally listed 14 languages; it now lists 22, following additions such as Sindhi (21st Amendment, 1967), Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali (71st Amendment, 1992), and Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali (92nd Amendment, 2003).
Article 350A directs States to provide facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage for children from linguistic minority groups. Article 350B provides for a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities to investigate and report on these safeguards.
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