Federalism | Class 10 Social Science Notes

Linguistic diversity of India

India is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world. According to the 2011 Census, more than 1300 distinct languages were recorded as mother tongues. These were grouped into major languages; for example, Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi, and Rajasthani were grouped under Hindi. Even after grouping, 121 major languages were identified. Of these, 22 languages are included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and are called Scheduled Languages. Others are non-Scheduled Languages. Hindi is the mother tongue of about 44% of Indians, and even including second and third language speakers, less than 50% speak Hindi. English is the mother tongue of only 0.02% but is known as a second or third language by 11% of Indians. The table lists the Scheduled Languages and their proportion of speakers, showing the rich linguistic mosaic of India. The historian Ramachandra Guha argues that linguistic states have strengthened Indian unity by allowing people to be proud of their language and identity while remaining Indian. He suggests that ignoring linguistic identities could have led to multiple nations within India. The linguistic reorganization of states has thus been a crucial factor in maintaining national unity and managing diversity.

📊 Diagram: Table on page 10 (23×2); Read the following excerpts from an article by noted historian, Ramachandra Guha, that appeared in the Times of India on November 1, 2006:

🧪 Activity: Make a bar or pie chart based on the language data; prepare a map showing linguistic diversity by shading regions where each language is spoken; find out about three languages spoken in India not included in the table.

🔗 Connection: This section connects to the next by explaining the need for decentralization in India due to its size and diversity.

Table on page 10 (23×2)

Table on page 15 (3×2)

Table on page 16 (4×2)

Table on page 16 (11×2)