Parliament Question: Inclusion of Gondi Language in Eighth Schedule

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.

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