Constitution Section 344 — Commission and Committee of Parliament on official language
Part XVII — OFFICIAL LANGUAGE — CHAPTER I.—LANGUAGE OF THE UNION
Constitutional
Summary
The President must set up a language commission five years after the Constitution starts, and again every ten years after that. This commission will have a chairperson and members representing languages listed in the Eighth Schedule, and the President will decide how the commission works. The commission’s job is to advise the President on promoting Hindi for official Union work, limiting English use, choosing languages for certain purposes, deciding on numeral forms, and other language-related matters. The commission must consider India’s industrial, cultural, and scientific progress, as well as the fair treatment of people from non-Hindi speaking areas in public services. A committee of 30 Parliament members—20 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha, elected by proportional representation—will review the commission’s suggestions and give its opinion to the President. After seeing this committee’s report, the President can issue orders following all or part of the commission’s recommendations, even if they differ from the usual rules about official language.
Official Text
(1) The President shall, at the expiration of five years from the commencement of this Constitution and thereafter at the expiration of ten years from such commencement, by order constitute a Commission which shall consist of a Chairman and such other members representing the different languages specified in the Eighth Schedule as the President may appoint, and the order shall define the procedure to be followed by the Commission.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Commission to make recommendations to the President as to—
(a) the progressive use of the Hindi language for the official purposes of the Union;
(b) restrictions on the use of the English language for all or any of the official purposes of the Union;
(c) the language to be used for all or any of the purposes mentioned in article 348;
(d) the form of numerals to be used for any one or more specified purposes of the Union;
(e) any other matter referred to the Commission by the President as regards the official language of the Union and the language for communication between the Union and a State or between one State and another and their use.
(3) In making their recommendations under clause (2), the Commission shall have due regard to the industrial, cultural and scientific advancement of India, and the just claims and the interests of persons belonging to the non-Hindi speaking areas in regard to the public services.
(4) There shall be constituted a Committee consisting of thirty members, of whom twenty shall be members of the House of the People and ten shall be members of the Council of States to be elected respectively by the members of the House of the People and the members of the Council of States in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
(5) It shall be the duty of the Committee to examine the recommendations of the Commission constituted under clause (1) and to report to the President their opinion thereon.
(6) Notwithstanding anything in article 343, the President may, after consideration of the report referred to in clause (5), issue directions in accordance with the whole or any part of that report.