Parliament Question: Promotion of regional languages

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3724 ANSWERED ON 25/03/2026 Promotion of regional languages 3724 Shri Samirul Islam: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: a) the details of the funds allocated and released towards the promotion of regional languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution during last five years, year- wise and language-wise details thereof; b) the details of the funds utilised towards the promotion of regional languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution during last five years, year-wise and language- wise details thereof; and c) the numbers of speakers for each of the regional languages listed in the Eighth Schedule and the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR) (a) to (c): The Government of India has officially recognised 22 languages as Scheduled Languages, as listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The Government has undertaken several initiatives for the preservation, promotion and development of Scheduled Languages and other Indian languages through dedicated institutions and academic programmes. In this regard, the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru, a subordinate office under the Ministry of Education, undertakes research, documentation, propagation and teaching of Indian languages, including Classical Languages. Funds allocated to CIIL for these activities in last five years i.e., 2020-21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25 are Rs.54.88 crore, Rs. 57.88 crore, Rs. 50.00 crore, Rs.53.50 crore and Rs. 47.02 crore respectively. The Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), Chennai, an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Education, undertakes activities relating to research, preservation and dissemination of Classical Tamil. National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) and National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language (NCPSL), both autonomous organizations under the Ministry of Education work for the promotion and propagation of Urdu language and Sindhi language respectively. Further, the promotion of the Sanskrit language is undertaken by the Government through three Central Universities dedicated to its teaching, preservation and research. The funds allocated to these organisations are utilised for various initiatives such as organisation of seminars and workshops, training programmes, JuniorResearch Fellowships, Post-Doctoral Fellowships, translation projects and publication-related activities. These initiatives are aligned with the objectives of the National Education Policy 2020, which emphasises multilingualism and promotion of Indian languages. The number of speakers of the Scheduled Languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, as per the Language Census Data, is available in public domain on the official portal at url: https://language.census.gov.in/showLanguageCensusData ********