Over 90% in Hindi-belt states speak only one language, rest of India is more bilingual: Data
2 weeks, 2 days ago

Over 90% in Hindi-belt states speak only one language, rest of India is more bilingual: Data

The Hindu  

The latest exchanges between Tamil Nadu and the Centre over Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan funds have reignited the long-standing language debate. Chart 3 shows the share of English speakers among native language speakers in 1991 and 2011. Chart 3 | The chart shows the share of English speakers among native language speakers A similar trend of declining or stagnating English proficiency can be observed across several Hindi-belt states, while non-Hindi-speaking states saw an increase in English speakers. Chart 4 shows the share of Hindi speakers among native language speakers in each state between 1991 and 2011. Chart 4 | The chart shows the share of Hindi speakers among native language speakers.

Language Tamil Nadu English Data Maharashtra States Gujarat Tamil Hindi Share Punjab Chart Native Speak Each State Hdi Speakers 2011 English Proficiency Hindi Speakers English Speakers Native Tamil Speakers Native Hindi Speakers Native Language Speakers  speak  native  2011  bilingual  hindi  chart  states  share  tamil  rest  90  data  language  english  india  speakers  hindibelt

History of this topic

Is learning Hindi as a third language necessary?
1 week, 1 day ago

Is learning Hindi as a third language necessary?

The Hindu  

The National Education Policy, 2020, encourages students up to at least Class 5 to learn a regional language in addition to the local language or mother tongue and English. While the Central government asserts that the choice of the additional regional language is left to the States, the NEP’s strong pitch for the three-language formula has led to fear, especially …

Hindi vs Native Languages Debate Reveals India’s Hidden Crisis of Multilingualism
2 weeks, 5 days ago

Hindi vs Native Languages Debate Reveals India’s Hidden Crisis of Multilingualism

The Hindu  

Published : Mar 02, 2025 14:09 IST - 6 MINS READ The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K. Our history tells you that this two-language formula has helped us materially as we are economically better off than the “Hindi” regions like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. We do not have to go looking for livelihood in other States like the people …

International Mother Language Day
1 month ago

International Mother Language Day

The Hindu  

There is a common language that everyone speaks, and then there is your own language — the one that feels like home. Observed on February 21, International Mother Language Day reminds us of the need to preserve linguistic diversity and protect fading languages. India’s linguistic richness: From ancient roots to fading voices Ancient languages: Tamil, one of the oldest surviving …

ThinkEdu Conclave 2025: Learning 3 languages essential in today’s times, says RSS Joint Gen Secy
1 month, 3 weeks ago

ThinkEdu Conclave 2025: Learning 3 languages essential in today’s times, says RSS Joint Gen Secy

New Indian Express  

CHENNAI: Though the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has no official stance on a two-language or three-language policy, it is of the view that modern times necessitate learning at least three languages: one’s mother tongue, a regional language, and a career language, said Mukunda CR, RSS Joint General Secretary here on Monday. In conversation with Ravi Shankar, Consulting Editor of The Sunday …

Book Review| “India: A Linguistic Civilization” Highlights Challenges Facing Indian Languages and Decline in Linguistic Diversity
2 months, 1 week ago

Book Review| “India: A Linguistic Civilization” Highlights Challenges Facing Indian Languages and Decline in Linguistic Diversity

The Hindu  

Published : Jan 14, 2025 22:13 IST - 7 MINS READ There is no public intellectual in India quite like G.N. In contrast with the recent census figures, Devy in his People’s Survey of India records 780 languages, including those that are spoken by as few as five people. But Devy does identify, in another longlist, languages that successive censuses …

Shah: Hindi has an unbreakable bond with every Indian language
6 months, 1 week ago

Shah: Hindi has an unbreakable bond with every Indian language

Hindustan Times  

Hindi shares an “unbreakable bond” with local languages and there can never be a competition between Indian languages, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Saturday as he extended greetings for Hindi Diwas. Emphasising the connection between Hindi and all Indian languages, Shah said the country’s progress is intertwined with the enrichment of these languages. The official language Hindi has …

Just Like That | India is a linguistic and cultural treasure trove, a thousand tongues bind us
1 year, 2 months ago

Just Like That | India is a linguistic and cultural treasure trove, a thousand tongues bind us

Hindustan Times  

India has the second largest number of languages in the world: 740. However, after 15 years, with the continuing opposition of non-Hindi speaking states, the Official Languages Act of 1963 allowed English to continue indefinitely until legislation to the contrary. Some people consider Urdu to be the language of Muslims, and only a pure Hindi devoid of Urdu words is …

IIT Guwahati Study Highlights Advantage of Bilingualism in Multicultural Communities
1 year, 3 months ago

IIT Guwahati Study Highlights Advantage of Bilingualism in Multicultural Communities

News 18  

Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati has in a new study found that bilingualism or speaking more than one language is advantageous in multilingual and multicultural communities, particularly in North East India with its unique linguistic and cultural diversity. IITG’s Centre for Linguistic Science and Technology and Department of Humanities and Social Sciences in a research on ‘Bilingual Language Processing in …

INDIA, THIS SIDE | Languages not liked by Hindutva ideology suffer existential crisis
1 year, 9 months ago

INDIA, THIS SIDE | Languages not liked by Hindutva ideology suffer existential crisis

The Hindu  

Published : Jun 15, 2023 11:00 IST - 7 MINS READ One’s mother tongue is closest to any person as is one’s mother. Highlights The decade-wise proportion of various language speakers to India’s total population indicate that in 1961 the Bangla speakers were 8.17 per cent of the total population, half a century later, their proportion had decreased to 8.03 …

Explained: What is the Mother Tongue Survey of India and why is it significant?
2 years, 4 months ago

Explained: What is the Mother Tongue Survey of India and why is it significant?

Firstpost  

The Mother Tongue Survey of India with field videography of 576 languages and dialects across India is complete. This comes amid the Centre’s push for using mother tongues at home and in education The Ministry of Home Affairs has finished the Mother Tongue Survey of India with field videography of 576 languages and dialects across India. The home ministry’s annual …

Sanjaya Baru | The politics of language: India’s unity in diversity
2 years, 5 months ago

Sanjaya Baru | The politics of language: India’s unity in diversity

Deccan Chronicle  

No other institution has played a bigger role in the popularisation of Hindi across the country than the much-maligned Bollywood cinema. In response to the recent Hindi enthusiasm emanating out of New Delhi, various political leaders across the non-Hindi regions have drawn attention to the fact that Hindi is in fact not the mother tongue of a large majority of …

Hindi Diwas 2022: Amid New Row by HDK, News18 Reads into Politics Over World's 3rd Most Spoken Language
2 years, 6 months ago

Hindi Diwas 2022: Amid New Row by HDK, News18 Reads into Politics Over World's 3rd Most Spoken Language

News 18  

The controversy over Hindi imposition is back in news in Karnataka as JDS leader and former CM HD Kumaraswamy after writting a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday and urging his government not to celebrate ‘Hindi Diwas’ by utilising the taxpayers’ money has now called for protest against the Hindi Diwas. Ajay Devgn Vs Kiccha Sudeep The …

Centre's aggressive push for Hindi as North-East India's 'link language' threatens to expose ethnic fault lines
2 years, 10 months ago

Centre's aggressive push for Hindi as North-East India's 'link language' threatens to expose ethnic fault lines

The Hindu  

North-eastern India is a linguistic mosaic, with over 400 different languages spoken in the region. Dr Banani Chakravarty said a section of the Assamese elite, while asserting Assamese linguistic aspiration, encouraged the “otherisation” of Tibeto-Burman language speakers. “A section of the Assamese power elite assumes that it is essential for Tibeto-Burman language speakers and speakers of ‘minor languages’ to know …

Lingua franca?: Controversy over Hindi puts focus on linguistic plurality
2 years, 10 months ago

Lingua franca?: Controversy over Hindi puts focus on linguistic plurality

The Hindu  

Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments in early April on the need to promote Hindi as a lingua franca among States, which was followed by an acrimonious Twitter exchange between two filmstars on communicating in Hindi, once again catapulted the language issue into the national imagination. Hindi speakers who spoke it as the first language accounted for 39.29 per cent of …

Recognising territorial links to languages essential for Indian federalism
2 years, 10 months ago

Recognising territorial links to languages essential for Indian federalism

The Hindu  

Historically, the symbiotic relationship of a language with the idea of a nation has been marked by much contestation across the world since the nineteenth century. At the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee held on April 8, 2022, Home Minister Amit Shah commented that in all the north-eastern States Hindi would be made compulsory until Class 10. …

DC EDIT | India has many languages
2 years, 10 months ago

DC EDIT | India has many languages

Deccan Chronicle  

The exchange between a Kannada and a Hindi film star on the popularity of their language was just another in a series of discussions on national languages that tend to go nowhere because of the complexity and numbers of India. It appears the reach of regional films in today’s high-tech environment is getting longer adding weight to the argument that …

Hindi Imposition Debate: Not Everyone’s Speaking the Same Language Here - News18
2 years, 11 months ago

Hindi Imposition Debate: Not Everyone’s Speaking the Same Language Here - News18

News 18  

“I can’t learn Hindi for your convenience; learn Tamil if you want!” Tamil superstar Thalapathy Vijay’s dialogue in his latest movie, Beast, has set the tone once again for the already raging “Hindi imposition” controversy in the country. All this furore on speaking Hindi and its imposition began after Union Home minister Amit Shah’s comment that Hindi should be accepted …

Data | Is Hindi or English beneficial as the link language?
2 years, 11 months ago

Data | Is Hindi or English beneficial as the link language?

The Hindu  

Residents of only 12 of the 35 States and Union Territories reported Hindi as their first choice of language for communication. A comparison of the Human Development Index of States and UTs shows that regions with a higher share of English speakers also have higher HDI scores, while States with a higher share of Hindi speakers have relatively low HDI …

The real script behind the call for a Hindi-India
2 years, 11 months ago

The real script behind the call for a Hindi-India

The Hindu  

Some 2,000 years ago, Tholkappiyar, the fabled author of Tolkappiyam, said that poetic words can be distributed in four types: Iyarcol, Thirisol, Thisaiccol and Vadasol. The Home Ministry’s scope extends to safeguarding relations of the States with the ‘union’, protecting the linguistic rights of language minorities and the promotion of Hindi. And, if there is such a growth, does it …

Hindi a friend of all Indian languages: Amit Shah
3 years, 6 months ago

Hindi a friend of all Indian languages: Amit Shah

The Hindu  

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said there was no conflict between Hindi and other Indian languages and that it could progress only through the approach of complementary coexistence. Mr. Shah said the new education policy stressed on the use of regional and official languages, particularly the mother tongue for imparting education till 5th standard. Promotion of official, regional …

Hindi push assault on diversity, India’s spirit
5 years, 6 months ago

Hindi push assault on diversity, India’s spirit

Deccan Chronicle  

On Hindi Divas, when Union home minister and BJP president Amit Shah gave an impassioned speech about the “need of our country to have one language, so that foreign languages don’t find a place”, one wonders why he use ‘languages’ in plural! Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of the Jan Sangh, which was the BJP’s predecessor, favoured Hindi but …

What percentage of people prefer to speak Hindi across States?
5 years, 6 months ago

What percentage of people prefer to speak Hindi across States?

The Hindu  

People in only 12 out of 35 States and Union Territories had overwhelmingly chosen Hindi as the first choice for communication. The 2011 Census data shows that most Indian States, apart from a handful of States in northern and central India, do not primarily speak Hindi but have adopted the language as a secondary language. image/svg+xml Uttar Pradesh | 97.4 …

Parents should give equal importance to Hindi and English language learning for cognitive development
5 years, 7 months ago

Parents should give equal importance to Hindi and English language learning for cognitive development

India Today  

India is a vastly diverse nation in terms of its culture and traditions and we have innumerable languages and dialects. According to a census report in 2001, approximately 258 million citizens across India spoke in Hindi as their native language, while 120 million used Hindi as a second language. Parents should give equal importance to Hindi and English language learning …

Hindi should become third language in the south for economic advantages it provides, not through patronage or propaganda
5 years, 9 months ago

Hindi should become third language in the south for economic advantages it provides, not through patronage or propaganda

Firstpost  

After attempts were made to replace English with Hindi as the link or bridge language to unify the nation, there was a massive backlash from the south and the Indira Gandhi-led government introduced amendments to the Official Languages Act, 1963. Amid objections over Hindi being made a compulsory language in all non-Hindi speaking states, the Ministry of Human Resource Development …

How languages intersect in India
6 years, 3 months ago

How languages intersect in India

Hindustan Times  

If two random Indians meet, there is only a 36% chance that they can talk to and understand each other, a Hindustan Times analysis of 2011 Census data shows, given the large diversity in languages spoken across the country. For instance, more than 97% of the people in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand can speak Hindi, which is why it is …

Nagaland is the most diverse state in India, language-wise
6 years, 8 months ago

Nagaland is the most diverse state in India, language-wise

Live Mint  

The release of linguistic data from the 2011 census allows us to objectively conclude that Nagaland is the most linguistically diverse state in India, with Kerala being the least diverse. Inverting the HHI gives us an estimate of the “effective number of firms” in an industry, a concept that has been extended to other fields of economics as well. Now, …

Treat all languages equally, save linguistic diversity
10 years, 9 months ago

Treat all languages equally, save linguistic diversity

Firstpost  

All languages in this country should be treated as equal and state government should get the freedom to decide in what language they want to interact with central government instead of limiting option to just two languages. By Kanva While Modi is free to talk in whatever language he wishes to, at the same time his government should ensure that …

Discover Related