SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 15 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 23 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Under which Article of the Indian Constitution is Hindi in Devanagari script declared as the official language of the Union?

(a)Article 348
(b)Article 343
(c)Article 344
(d)Article 351

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Article 343(1) declares that the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script, with numerals in the international form of Indian numerals.

It opens Part XVII of the Constitution (Articles 343–351), the part on official language → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Article 348 — Article 348 sets the language of the Supreme Court, the High Courts and the texts of Acts and Bills: English, until Parliament provides otherwise. It does not name the Union's official language.
(c)
Article 344 — Article 344 provides for a Commission and a Committee of Parliament on official language, to review the progressive use of Hindi. It sets up review bodies and declares nothing.
(d)
Article 351 — Article 351 directs the Union to promote the spread and development of Hindi. It is a duty to develop the language, not the clause that makes it official.

Concept

Part XVII (Articles 343–351) is the Constitution's chapter on language. Article 343 names Hindi in Devanagari as the Union's official language and let English continue for official purposes for 15 years from 1950.

The Official Languages Act, 1963 allowed English to continue alongside Hindi after that period ended in 1965.

The Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi as the official language on 14 September 1949, the date marked each year as Hindi Diwas.

Key facts

Article 343(1): the official language of the Union is Hindi in Devanagari script.
Article 343(2) continued English for official purposes for 15 years from the Constitution's commencement.
Article 351 directs the Union to promote the spread and development of Hindi.
Hindi Diwas, 14 September, marks the Constituent Assembly's 1949 decision on Hindi as official language.

Study next

Articles 345–347: official languages of the States and between StatesArticle 350A (mother tongue at the primary stage) and Article 350B (Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities)The Eighth Schedule and the amendments that expanded it

Common traps

Choosing Article 351 because it is the Hindi-specific directive. It orders the language's development, while Article 343 declares it official.
Choosing Article 348 by thinking of language in general. That article covers the Supreme Court, the High Courts and the texts of laws.

All four options here come from Part XVII, so the item rewards knowing what each language article does, not just the number 343.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: General Policy — all 308 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.