REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR LINGUISTIC MINORITIES 47th REPORT (July 2008 to June 2010) www.nclm.nic.in la[;k/No. CLM/47/2011 vk;qDr Hkk"kktkr vYila[;d vYila[;d dk;Z ea=ky; Hkkjr ljdkj Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities Ministry of Minority Affairs Government of India 40] vej ukFk >k ekxZ VsyhQksu/ Telephone: 2468549 rkj / Telegram: LIMINCOM 40, Amar Nath Jha Marg fgUnh rkj / Hindi Telegram : Hkk"kkYik;qDr bykgkckn-211002 QSDl la0/ Fax No. 0532- 2468544 Allahabad 211002 fnukad /Dated: 27.06.2011 To : The President of India Through: Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Government of India Your Excellency, 1. I have the honour to present the 47th Report to Your Excellency for the period July 2008 to June 2010, in terms of Article 350-B (2) of the Constitution of India. 2. The Report is mainly based on the information elicited from the State Governments/UT Administrations in respect of implementation of the Constitutional and the nationally agreed Scheme of Safeguards provided to the linguistic minorities in India. 3. The Report records its findings and recommendations for appropriate action by the State Governments and the Union Territory Administrations. 4. The Report may kindly be laid on the table of both the Houses of Parliament as per the Constitutional provisions. With profound regards. Yours faithfully, (NANDLAL JOTWANI) Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities CONTENTS CHAPTER TITLE PAGE 1. INTRODUCTION 1-4 NORTHERN ZONE 5-6 2. Chandigarh 7-11 3. Delhi 12-17 4. Haryana 18-22 5. Himachal Pradesh 23-27 6. Jammu & Kashmir 28-29 7. Punjab 30-33 8. Rajasthan 34-38 CENTRAL ZONE 39-40 9. Bihar 41-42 10. Chhatisgarh 43-47 11. Jharkhand 48-49 12. Madhya Pradesh 50-54 13. Uttarakhand 55-56 14. Uttar Pradesh 57-62 EASTERN ZONE 63-64 15. Arunachal Pradesh 65-69 16. Assam 70-77 17. Manipur 78-83 18. Meghalaya 84-89 19. Mizoram 90-94 20. Nagaland 95-102 21. Orissa 103-109 22. Sikkim 110-115 23. Tripura 116-121 24. West Bengal 122-126 WESTERN ZONE 127-128 25. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 129-132 26. Daman & Diu 133-136 27. Goa 137-142 28. Gujarat 143-149 29. Karnataka 150-156 30. Maharashtra 157-162 SOUTHERN ZONE 163-164 31. Andaman & Nicobar Islands 165-169 32. Andhra Pradesh 170-176 33. Kerala 177-182 34. Lakshadweep 183-186 35. Puducherry 187-192 36. Tamilnadu 193-199 37. FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS 200-206 38. RECOMMENDATIONS 207-221 Note: The placing of the States/U.T.s under certain zones is purely a matter of administrative convenience. The States/U.T.s figure in the said Zones in the alphabetical order as per English alphabet. ANNEXURES Annexure TITLE Page I Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India 222-224 II Safeguards for Linguistic Minorities 225-227 III Languages spoken by 1% or more of the 228-233 population of States/U.T.s (Census 2001) IV Commissioner's Questionnaire 47th Report 234-251 V Resolution adopted at Provincial Education 252-252 Ministers' Conference (August 1949, Approved by Govt. of India) VI Government of India Memorandum, 1956 253-259 VII Ministerial Committee of the Southern 260-275 Zonal Council, 1959, on Safeguards for Linguistic Minorities VIII Meeting of the Chief Ministers of States 276-283 & Central Ministers (August 1961) IX First Meeting of the Committee of 284-289 Vice-Chairmen of Zonal Councils (November 1961) 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 I feel honoured to have been entrusted with the duties and responsibilities of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, in terms of Article 350B of the Constitution of India, with effect from 10th December, 2010. Pursuant to the Constitutional mandate, I have the privilege to present my Report for the period from July 2008 to June 2010 as the said consolidated period was approved by Her Excellency, the President of India. 1.2 India, one of the world's ancient civilizations, represents a wonderful mosaic of multiple castes, religions and languages. The centuries old multilingual, multicultural ethos has held the country together like the thread in the rosary of beads, which represents 'unity in diversity' in the country. Language is a unifying factor which holds together groups of people by providing them an identity. 1.3 The statistics released on languages, based on Census 2001, show that people speaking two major language groups, namely, Indo-Aryan and Dravidian, constitute 76.86% and 20.82% of the population respectively. The Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burmese and Semito-Hamitic language groups constitute 1.11%, 1% and 0.01% of the population respectively. Multiplicity of languages spoken by people in different parts of the country forms an integral part of our rich cultural heritage. 1.4 The twenty two languages enlisted in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India, are spoken by 96.56% of our total population. The importance of language is reflected in the fact that the number of speakers of some languages in India exceeds the population of some countries in the world. For example, Bengali is spoken by more than 83 million, Telugu by 74 million, Tamil by 60 million and Gujarati by more than 46 million. There are as many as 122 identifiable languages in the country, having 10,000 or more speakers at the all-India level. On the other hand, about 0.17% of our population uses such languages as are spoken by less than 10,000 persons at the all-India level. 1.5 The term 'Linguistic Minority' has not been defined in the Constitution. A group or groups of people whose mother languages are different from the principal language(s) of the State/U.T. broadly constitute the linguistic minority. The Supreme Court in DAV College Vs. State of Punjab (1971) said, "A linguistic minority for the purpose of Article 30(1) is one which must at least have a separate spoken language. It is not necessary that the language should also have distinct script for those who speak it so as to be a linguistic minority." 1.6 There are approximately 20 crore people who speak a language which is other than the principal language of the State/UT. Thus, approximately 19% of our population happen to be the linguistic minorities. The intra-State migration and movement of 2 population from different parts of the country in search of better economic or educational opportunities also contributes to the emerging linguistic minorities scenario in the country. There is, therefore, an imperative need to effectively implement the safeguards for the linguistic minorities for providing them equal opportunities for harmonious and inclusive development of the country. 1.7 The linguistic heterogeneity and diversity prevailing in the country should be harmonized for forging unity and cooperation amongst groups speaking different languages for furtherance of national integration and inclusive development. Language must be viewed as a 'resource' for growth and development of the country. Shri Nandlal Jotwani, Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Government of India, delivering the Keynote Address in a Seminar on 'Importance of Mother Language as a Medium of Instruction at Primary Stage of Education'. 1.8 In a multilingual society like ours, language is a critical factor in bringing about I cohesion in the society, which, in turn, brings about peace and prosperity in the country. N While the State Governments/U.T. Administrations do recognize the need for T implementation of the safeguards for the linguistic minorities, the over-all efforts in R many States/U.Ts. need to be further stepped up and accelerated in the light of the O findings and recommendations of this Report. D U 1.9 The role of the State Governments/U.T. Administrations in effective C implementation of the Safeguards for the linguistic minorities cannot be T overemphasized. The Reports of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, presented I to H.E. President of India and tabled in both the Houses of Parliament, primarily reflect O the status of the implementation of the Safeguards for the linguistic minorities in the N States/U.T.s. 3 1.10 The language may be seen as a key symbol of group identity. Just as people value family traditions, festivals and community events, members of the community may see their language as a cultural core value, vital to their community and ethnic identity. If members view their language as a hindrance to economic mobility and integration into mainstream society, they may develop negative attitudes towards their language. Even languages with many thousands of speakers are no longer being acquired by children; at least 50% of the world's around 6,700 languages are losing speakers. We estimate that about 90% of all languages may be replaced by the dominant languages by the end of the 21st century unless urgent action to halt this process is taken by its native speakers and their governments. A positive attitude is critical for the stability of a language. Shri Nandlal Jotwani, Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Government of India, releasing a booklet on the 'Safeguards for the Linguistic Minorities'. Seen on the dais (l to r) Justice N. L. Ganguli, High Court (Allahabad); Dr. Nandlal Jotwani, CLM; Dr. Pradeep Bhargava, Director, G.B. Pant Institute of Social Sciences; Dr. R. Subbakrishna, CIIL (Mysore) 1.11 We, in India, have provided a certain framework of Safeguards to the linguistic I N minorities to help them preserve and promote their languages, art and culture. For T example, any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof, R having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve O the same; no citizen shall be denied admission into