India's Language Policy is a complex concept and a set of constitutional provisions found in Part XVII, Articles 343 to 351, supplemented by the Official Languages Act, 1963. The policy originated in 1950 when the Constitution declared Hindi in Devanagari script as the official language of the Union. The original plan, under Article 343(2), permitted English to continue for 15 years, until January 26, 1965, after which it was to be phased out. This framework was created to foster national unity and facilitate communication across the newly independent nation.
The mechanism is primarily governed by the Official Languages Act, 1963, which Parliament enacted under the authority of Article 343(3) to regulate the use of languages for Union purposes. The Act's crucial Section 3 provides for the continuance of the English language alongside Hindi. This provision was significantly changed by the Official Languages (Amendment) Act, 1967, which converted the permissive word "may" to a binding guarantee, ensuring English would continue as long as any non-Hindi state desired it, a response to the anti-Hindi agitations in Madras State.
The policy connects directly to the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, which, as defined by Articles 344(1) and 351, lists the languages officially recognized by the Government of India, currently numbering 22. Article 351 mandates the Union to promote the spread and development of Hindi. State legislatures are also empowered by Article 345 to adopt any one or more languages used in the state as their official language. The number of scheduled languages has changed recently, with the last additions—Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali—made by the 92nd Amendment Act, 2003. Furthermore, the educational aspect is linked to the Three-Language Formula, which was retained in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.