India’s linguistic richness reflects our civilizational experience, constitutional design and democratic character. Together, these civilizational, constitutional and democratic foundations support a layered multilingual framework in which Indian languages acquire wider public and academic roles and English remains available for international and specialised purposes.

Such a system must improve citizens’ access to public services, make institutional communication more inclusive and allow knowledge to spread across languages. This multilingual framework is grounded in the Constitution. For example, Article 343 establishes Hindi in the Devanagari script as the Union’s official language. Article 343(3) and the Official Languages Act permit English to continue in addition to Hindi for specified Union and parliamentary purposes. Subject to Articles 346 and 347, Article 345 allows State Legislatures to adopt one or more languages in use in the State, or Hindi, for official purposes.

Alongside this flexibility for States, Article 344 requires due regard to the interests of people from non-Hindi-speaking areas in public services. Articles 350 and 350A address grievance representations and mother-tongue instruction for children from linguistic minorities. Further, Article 351 directs the Union to promote and develop Hindi. This constitutional balance also reflects India’s longer history of multilingual interaction. Functional multilingualism is not new to India. Across different periods, Indians used several languages for administration, trade, pilgrimage, literature, scholarship and everyday communication.

It was during colonial rule that English became established in administration and education. It continues to perform functions assigned by the Constitution and law. It is also used in higher education, research and administration. Hindi and the official languages of the States perform extensive official, educational and public functions. India’s literary and intellectual traditions provide a strong basis for expanding knowledge creation in Indian languages.

These languages can therefore assume an increasingly prominent role in academic work and public life........

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