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Preserving Indian Languages and Ancient Scripts through Language Documentation and Digital Archiving

Editorial Desk

DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, Vol. 40, No. 5, Sept 2020, pp. 265-267, DOI : 10.14429/djlit.40.5.16441

"Unity in diversity is one of the most distinctive features of Indian civilisation. From Jammu & Kashmir to Kanyakumari, every region portrays different customs, cultural traditions, and mother tongues. India is a country of multiple languages and ancient scripts. According to the 2011 census report, 1950 mother tongues were spoken/in use in India. Under Article 344 of the Indian Constitution, only 15 languages were initially recognised as the official language. The 21st Constitution Amendment gave Sindhi the official language status. Based on the 71st constitution amendment, the Nepali, Konkani, and Manipuri languages were also included in the above list. Later, by the 92nd Constitution Amendment Act, 2003, four new languages Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali, were included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Thus, now 22 languages have been given the status of official language in the Indian Constitution. The total number of people speaking these 22 languages in India is 90 per cent. Apart from these 22 languages, English is also the official language and is also the official language of Mizoram, Nagaland, and Meghalaya. In all, 60 languages are being taught in schools in India. As per the census of 2001, there are 1635 rationalised mother tongues, 234 identifiable mother tongues, and 22 major languages. Of these, 29 languages have more than a million native speakers, 60 have more than 100,000, and 122 have more than 10,000 native speakers. The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India stated that since a household can have people related to or unrelated to or related to a blood relationship, it is necessary to ask every person about their mother tongue. Every household member needs not to have the same mother tongue. As per Census 2011, the total number of identifiable mother tongues arrived at is 121, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, said. These 121 languages may be divided into two parts. Part I, 22 official languages account for the mother tongue of 96.72 per cent Indians, and Part II consists of all other 99 mother tongues with less than 10,000 speakers at the all-India level or was not identifiable based on the linguistic information available (PRUTHI).

It is clear that we had lost about half the mother tongues in 10 years, i.e., 2001- 2011. So there is an urgent need to preserve and protect the rich linguistic diversity of India."