UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 2: Questions on debates in the Constituent Assembly on Hindi language and internal diaspora challenges (Week 120)

QUESTION 1

The Constituent Assembly chose Official and not National language for Hindi. Discuss the constitutional, political and linguistic considerations that led to this distinction in the debates of the Constituent Assembly.

QUESTION 2

The concept of internal diaspora challenges traditional notions of migration and identity. Discuss how internal diasporas manifest in India and their implications for social cohesion and policy.

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.

— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.

Body

— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.

— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.

— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.

QUESTION 1: The Constituent Assembly chose Official and not National language for Hindi. Discuss the constitutional, political and linguistic considerations that led to this distinction in the debates of the Constituent Assembly.

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— September 14 is observed as Hindi Diwas, or Hindi Day, to commemorate the Constituent Assembly of India making Hindi the official language of the Union government.

— The Constituent Assembly chose Hindi as the official — not the national — language of the country after extensive discussions over three days. Discussions were also held over what script should the Union adopt, what script should the numerals be in, and what should be the status of English. Hindustani (Hindi with more Urdu elements) and Sanskrit were among those proposed as official languages.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

— The Munshi-Ayyangar formula — named after Drafting Committee members K M Munshi and N Gopalaswamy Ayyangar — was adopted as a compromise solution.

— As part of the Munshi-Ayyangar formula, Article 343 of the Constitution as adopted in 1950 said, “The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals.”

— “Notwithstanding anything in clause (1), for a period of fifteen years from the commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement.”

— Speaking on September 13, 1949, RV Dhulekar, from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, said Hindi should not just be the official language, but also the national language. “You say, Hindi is the official language. but I say it is the national language. There was a race among the languages and Hindi has run the race and you cannot now stop its career.”

— Frank Anthony, who represented Central Provinces and Berar, made a case for English. “I am bound to say with regret that I cannot understand the almost malicious and vindictive attitude towards English…do not let our resentment against the British be imported into our attitude towards the English language… a knowledge of English which our people have acquired over a period of 200 years is one of the greatest assets which India possesses in the international field.”

— Qazi Syed Karimuddin, again from Central Provinces and Berar, argued that even Mahatma Gandhi had championed Hindustani. “Congress had agreed that the national language of India would be Hindustani written both in Devanagri and Urdu scripts.”

— T A Ramalingam Chettiar, who represented Madras, said they had agreed to Hindi simply because it was spoken by a large number of people in the country. “If we are going to accept Hindi, it is not on account of the excellence of the language, it is not on account of its being the richest language or on account of its being, as it has been claimed for Sanskrit, the mother of other languages and things like that. It is not that at all. It is merely on account of the existence of a large number of people speaking Hindi, not even a majority of the population of the country, but only among the languages which are spoken in India, Hindi claims probably the largest number of people.”

Conclusion:

— Between September 12 and 14, 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India debated the status of India’s languages. Among the issues that were discussed were the use of the term ‘national language’, instead of ‘official’ language; Hindi vs languages such as Bengali, Telugu, Sanskrit, or Hindustani; Devanagari script vs the Roman script; the language to be used in the higher judiciary and Parliament; international numerals vs those in Devanagari script.

— Finally a compromise was reached wherein English along with Hindi was made the official language of India for a period of 15 years. At the completion of the period, Hindi would replace English as the only language to be used for official purposes.

(Source: Hindi Diwas 2025: How Constituent Assembly decided on Hindi as the official, and not national, language of India, Hindi Diwas, and the history of the debate over Hindi’s status)

Points to Ponder

Read more about Hindi Diwas

Read about Munshi-Ayyangar formula

Related Previous Year Questions

Indian Constitution has conferred the amending power on the ordinary legislative institutions with a few procedural hurdles. In view of this statement, examine the procedural and substantive limitations on the amending power of the Parliament to change the Constitution. (2025)

“The Constitution of India is a living instrument with capabilities of enormous dynamism. It is a constitution made for a progressive society.” Illustrate with special reference to the expanding horizons of the right to life and personal liberty. (2023)

QUESTION 2: The concept of internal diaspora challenges traditional notions of migration and identity. Discuss how internal diasporas manifest in India and their implications for social cohesion and policy.

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— The size of India’s diaspora, estimated in 2001-02 to be over 20 million, is currently estimated to be over 30 million.

— In India, where the words ‘pravasi’ and ‘videshi’ are used not only for international emigration but also for long-distance internal migration.

— For a diasporic experience, it is important to cross a significant cultural zone which may be internal or international. For instance, Madurai district in Tamil Nadu counts virtually no ‘migrants’ from Gujarat in the recent migration Censuses and yet reports over 60,000 Gujarati speakers in the language Censuses, more than the size of India’s diaspora in most countries of the world.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

— Diasporas after all are a culmination of recent migrations and past migrations, such as the Indian migration to Mauritius in the 19th century that has led to the creation of an Indian diaspora there today.

— In a recent paper published in the journal Sociological Bulletin, the internal and international diasporas based on the major languages of India. For internal diasporas, recent language Censuses were used, excluding border-districts on state boundaries. For international diasporas, other countries’ language Censuses and other sources were used to form estimates.

— Punjabi, Malayalam and Tamil were the most dispersed language groups relative to their sizes (over 10 %), followed by Telugu and Gujarati. Hindi (which includes Bhojpuri and Marwari in the Indian Census) speakers form the largest segment of India’s diaspora but are relatively less dispersed relative to overall size. Marathi, Kannada and Bengali were the least dispersed.

— The preservation of language is an important aspect of diasporic groups, but it may fade over time. Some diasporas have learnt the local languages along with retaining their own ones whereas in extremely cosmopolitan settings, local languages were never seen as important to learn.

— Many of the challenges of integration and conflicts between first and second generation migrants within families, as depicted in Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake, in the case of international migration, can be observed among the internal diasporas as well.

Conclusion:

— India’s diasporic experiences far exceed 30 million and are closer to 100 million, and they greatly matter in the spread of customs and cuisines, not only around the world but also within India. It is only when we understand the transnational from the subnational that we begin to recognise the full meaning of what it means to be videshi, outside or within one’s own country.

(Source: ‘Videshi’ in one’s own country: Understanding India’s internal diasporas)

Points to Ponder

Read about migration

Read more about India’s diaspora

Related Previous Year Questions

Indian diaspora has scaled new heights in the West. Describe its economic and political benefits for India. (2023)

Indian Diaspora has an important role to play in South East Asian countries economy and society. Appraise the role of Indian Diaspora in South-East Asia in this context. (2017)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 120)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 119)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 118)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 119)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 119)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 118)

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