See Full Document Text
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. *328
TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 11TH AUGUST, 2026/ SHRAVANA 20, 1948 (SAKA)
INCLUSION OF GONDI LANGUAGE IN EIGHTH SCHEDULE
†*328. DR. FAGGAN SINGH KULASTE:
Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has received any representations/proposals for
inclusion of Gondi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution from
tribal-dominated States;
(b) if so, the action taken thereon by the Government alongwith the present
status thereof, State-wise including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Maharashtra and Odisha;
(c) whether the Government is implementing any special scheme for the
preservation, promotion, standardization, script development and
encouragement of mother tongue-based education for the Gondi language;
(d) if so, the details thereof alongwith the financial allocation therefor, State-
wise; and
(e) if not, the measures taken by the Government for implementing any
special scheme for the Gondi language?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI NITYANAND RAI)
(a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.-2-
L.S.S.Q.NO. *328 FOR 11.08.2026
STATEMENT IN REPLY TO THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO-*328
FOR 11.08.2026 REGARDING INCLUSION OF GONDI LANGUAGE IN EIGHTH
SCHEDULE
(a) to (b): There have been demands from time to time for inclusion of
several languages, including Gondi, in the Eighth Schedule to the
Constitution. However, there are no fixed criteria for consideration of any
language for inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. As the
evolution of dialects and languages is a dynamic process, influenced by
socio-cultural, economic and political developments, it is difficult to fix any
criterion for languages for inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the
Constitution. The earlier attempts, through the Pahwa (1996) and Sitakant
Mohapatra (2003) Committees, to evolve such fixed criteria have been
inconclusive. The Government is conscious of the sentiments and
requirements for inclusion of other languages in the Eighth Schedule. Such
requests have to be considered keeping in mind these sentiments, and the
other relevant considerations.
(c) to (e) The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 focuses on the
promotion of all scheduled and non-scheduled Indian Languages. NEP, 2020
provides, wherever possible, for medium of instruction to be in the home
language/mother tongue/local language upto at least class 5 and preferably
upto class 8. The policy also provides for making available high quality text
books in home language/mother tongue and encouraging teachers to use-3-
L.S.S.Q.NO. *328 FOR 11.08.2026
bilingual approach while teaching. Government of India has established
Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru which works for the
promotion of all Indian languages, including Gondi. Under LDCIL [Linguistic
Data Consortium for Indian Languages] scheme, CIIL is working on the
development of Text and Speech Corpora in Gondi. Under its Bharatavani
Project, CIIL is working towards the aggregation, digitisation, preservation
and dissemination of knowledge resources in Indian languages, including
Gondi. The Gondi language domain of Bharatavani presently hosts 33
resources, comprising 15 language-learning resources, 16 encyclopedic
resources and 2 dictionaries. CIIL in collaboration with NCERT has also
prepared GONDI-TELUGU PRIMER and GONDI-ODIA PRIMER.
Further, Sahitya Akademi, under the Ministry of Culture undertakes
activities for the promotion and preservation of tribal languages and
literature through its Centre for Oral and Tribal Literature (COTLIT). It also
has a Language Development Board through which it bestows Bhasha
Samman for un-recognized languages as also for contribution to classical
and medieval literature. It also organizes various Language Conventions as
suggested by the Board. The Sahitya Akademi has given Bhasha Samman
for the year 2004 to Prof. Hira Lal Shukla in Gondi Language.
******