Recently the Government of India has approved inclusion of some of the languages in the list of classical languages. Now, how many languages in total are having the status of classical languages ?
- (1)6
- (2)8
- (3)10
- (4)11
Answer
Why
Correct — option (4), 11.
On 3 October 2024 the Union Cabinet approved conferring the status of Classical Language on five languages: Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali.
Six languages already held the status: Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu and Kannada (2008), Malayalam (2013) and Odia (2014).
Step 1, languages before the decision: 6.
Step 2, languages added on 3 October 2024: 5.
Step 3, add them: 6 + 5 = 11.
The Ministry of Culture's explainer of 4 October 2024 gives the same total. The five were recommended by the Linguistic Experts Committee under the Sahitya Akademi, which revised the criteria on 25 July 2024.
The idea to remember: 6 + 5 = 11 classical languages after 3 October 2024.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)6 — Six is the count before the Cabinet decision of 3 October 2024: Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia, notified between 2004 and 2014.
The stem says the Government has approved further languages and asks for the total now, so Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali must be added.
- (2)8 — Eight is not a total the list has ever reached. The count went to 1 with Tamil (2004), 2 with Sanskrit (2005), 4 with Telugu and Kannada (2008), 5 with Malayalam (2013) and 6 with Odia (2014).
It then jumped by five on 3 October 2024, from 6 straight to 11.
- (3)10 — Ten is one short. It is the total you reach by adding only four of the five languages approved on 3 October 2024.
Pali and Prakrit are two separate classical languages in the Cabinet decision, alongside Marathi, Assamese and Bengali. With five new languages, the total is 6 + 5 = 11.
Concept
The Government of India created the category of Classical Languages on 12 October 2004, declaring Tamil a Classical Language. The Ministry of Culture set up a Linguistic Experts Committee (LEC) under the Sahitya Akademi in November 2004 to examine proposals.
The criteria have been revised twice, in November 2005 and in July 2024. The 2024 version asks for: high antiquity of early texts or recorded history over 1500–2000 years; a body of ancient literature considered a heritage by generations of speakers; knowledge texts, especially prose, besides poetry, epigraphical and inscriptional evidence.
It also allows the classical form to be distinct from, or discontinuous with, the language's later forms.
RPSC's 2024 syllabus lists "Development of Language and Literature in Ancient India: Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil" under Indian History. All three of those languages now hold classical status: Tamil since 2004, Sanskrit since 2005 and Prakrit since 2024.
The 2024 decision had a long run-up. Maharashtra proposed Marathi in 2013, and the LEC recommended it. In 2017, during inter-ministerial consultation, the Ministry of Home Affairs advised revising the criteria and making them stricter. Proposals for Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali were also received, from Bihar, Assam and West Bengal.
The status brings support through the Ministry of Education, including National Awards for Classical Languages, university chairs and centres for promotion. The Centres for Excellence for studies in Classical Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Odia were established under the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru.
Key facts
- The Union Cabinet approved Classical Language status for Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali on 3 October 2024.
- The six earlier classical languages: Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu and Kannada (2008), Malayalam (2013) and Odia (2014).
- The category was created on 12 October 2004, when Tamil was declared a Classical Language.
- The LEC under the Sahitya Akademi revised the criteria on 25 July 2024 and recommended the five new languages.
- The 2024 criteria include high antiquity of early texts or recorded history over a period of 1500–2000 years.
Dates for 2004–2014 are notification dates given by PIB; 2024 is the date of Cabinet approval.
Study next
Common traps
- Stopping at 6. That was the total before 3 October 2024, and the stem asks for the count after the new approvals.
- Treating Pali and Prakrit as one language. They were approved as two, which makes five new classical languages, not four.
- Confusing classical status with the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, which lists 22 languages. Classical status is conferred by the Government on the LEC's recommendation.
A question can ask how many classical languages India has after a given decision, or which language in a list does not hold the status. A question can also ask for the year a language was notified, the body that examines proposals, or the antiquity the criteria require.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS compared this question with questions from other RAS Prelims papers and found none similar enough to link.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following languages was NOT among those approved for Classical Language status by the Union Cabinet on 3 October 2024?
- (a)Pali
- (b)Assamese
- (c)Odia
- (d)Marathi
Answer(3) — Odia already held the status, notified on 1 March 2014. Options (1), (2) and (4) were three of the five languages approved on 3 October 2024, with Prakrit and Bengali. - practice — not a real PYQ
Under the criteria for Classical Language status revised in July 2024, a language needs high antiquity of its early texts or recorded history over a period of:
- (a)500–1000 years
- (b)1000–1500 years
- (c)1500–2000 years
- (d)2000–2500 years
Answer(3) — The 2024 criteria keep the 1500–2000 years range introduced in the November 2005 revision. The original 2004 criterion asked for over a thousand years, which is not the range in option (2); options (1) and (4) appear in no version of the criteria.