Which of the following languages is/are NOT included in the Eighth Schedule of Indian Constitution ? 1. Nepali 2. Dogri 3. Bodo 4. Bhojpuri Select the correct answer from the code given below : Code :
- (a)1 and 2
- (b)3 and 4
- (c)Only 4
- (d)Only 1
Correct — C, Only 4. Of the four languages listed, only Bhojpuri sits outside the Eighth Schedule. Nepali went in with the Constitution (Seventy-first Amendment) Act, 1992, alongside Konkani and Manipuri. Dogri and Bodo both went in with the Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Act, 2003, together with Maithili and Santali — the amendment that took the Schedule from 18 languages to the 22 it lists today. Bhojpuri, despite an enormous speaker base across eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, has never been included; the Ministry of Home Affairs counts it among the 38 further languages for which inclusion has been demanded. So statement 4 alone names a non-scheduled language.
- (a)1 and 2 — Both Nepali and Dogri are scheduled languages — Nepali since the 71st Amendment of 1992, Dogri since the 92nd Amendment of 2003. Neither is outside the Schedule.
- (b)3 and 4 — Half right, and the most tempting wrong answer. Bhojpuri is indeed outside, but Bodo is inside, added by the very same 92nd Amendment (2003) that brought in Dogri. Candidates who assume tribal or north-eastern languages are excluded get caught here — Santali, also a tribal language, entered at the same time.
- (d)Only 1 — Nepali is a scheduled language of India and has been since 1992; it is widely spoken in Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills. That it is also the national language of a neighbouring country has nothing to do with its Indian constitutional status — which is precisely the false intuition this option is fishing for.
The Eighth Schedule is the Constitution's list of formally recognised languages. It does two constitutional jobs: under Article 344(1) it fixes the composition of the Official Language Commission, and under Article 351 it directs the Union to draw on these languages to enrich Hindi. Scheduled status also carries practical weight — candidates may write UPSC and many other public examinations in these languages, and government language-development schemes and Sahitya Akademi recognition are organised around them. The list began with 14 languages in 1950 and stands at 22 today.
Almost every Eighth Schedule question reduces to three amendment blocks. 1967, the 21st Amendment: Sindhi. 1992, the 71st Amendment: Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali. 2003, the 92nd Amendment: Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Santali. Learn each block as a unit and the whole Schedule is secure. The negative side is short too — the languages examiners most often plant as fake scheduled languages are Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Tulu and Mizo. One more distinction worth keeping clean: Eighth Schedule status is not the same thing as 'classical language' status, which is a Ministry of Culture designation with its own criteria, first conferred on Tamil in 2004 and since extended to several other languages.
- The Eighth Schedule currently lists 22 languages; it began with 14 in 1950
- 21st Amendment (1967) added Sindhi; 71st Amendment (1992) added Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali; 92nd Amendment (2003) added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali
- The 96th Amendment (2011) added no language — it only substituted 'Odia' for 'Oriya' in the Schedule
- Bhojpuri is not a scheduled language; per the Ministry of Home Affairs there are demands for the inclusion of 38 more languages, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Tulu and Mizo among them
- Articles 344(1) and 351 are the provisions that give the Eighth Schedule its constitutional work
Only Bhojpuri lies outside the Schedule, so the answer is (c) Only 4.
- Assuming a language with a very large speaker base must be scheduled — Bhojpuri has more speakers than several scheduled languages and is still outside
- Thinking Nepali cannot be an Indian scheduled language because Nepal is a separate country
- Confusing 'scheduled language', 'classical language' and 'official language of the Union' — three different statuses conferred by three different routes
UPPSC frames it as a which-is-NOT item over a short list; UPSC usually names the amendment instead — 'the Constitution (71st Amendment) Act, 1992 added which of the following languages' — so memorise each language block together with its amendment number and year.
The Constitution (71st Amendment) Act, 1992 amends the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution to include which of the following languages? 1. Konkani 2. Manipuri 3. Nepali 4. Maithili Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
- (b) 1, 2 and 4
- (c) 1, 3 and 4
- (d) 2, 3 and 4
Answer(a) 1, 2 and 3
The same fact from the other direction: UPSC gives the amendment and asks for the languages, where UPPSC gives the languages and asks which is outside. Nepali appears in both — this question is where its 1992 entry is nailed down.
Under which one of the following Constitution Amendment Acts, four languages were added to the languages under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, thereby raising their number to 22?
- (a) Constitution (Ninetieth Amendment) Act
- (b) Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act
- (c) Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Act
- (d) Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act
Answer(c) Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Act
The 92nd Amendment of 2003, which is exactly what put Dogri and Bodo — two of the four languages in this UPPSC item — into the Schedule and took the count to 22.
The Constitution of India initially permitted the use of English language for all official purposes for a period of -
- (a) 5 years
- (b) 10 years
- (c) 15 years
- (d) 20 years
Answer(c) 15 years
The neighbouring provision in the same constitutional chapter: Part XVII fixes the official language of the Union (Article 343) while the Eighth Schedule, worked through Articles 344 and 351, fixes the recognised-languages list. UPPSC returns to the Constitution's language provisions almost every cycle.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Act, 2003 added which of the following languages to the Eighth Schedule?
- (a)Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali and Sindhi
- (b)Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali
- (c)Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Tulu and Mizo
- (d)Sindhi, Santali, Bodo and Nepali
Answer(b) Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali — the amendment that raised the Schedule from 18 languages to 22.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following statements about the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution is correct?
- (a)It presently lists 18 languages
- (b)It was amended in 2011 to add Odia as a new language
- (c)It presently lists 22 languages
- (d)Bhojpuri was added to it in 2003
Answer(c) It presently lists 22 languages. The 96th Amendment of 2011 added nothing new — it only replaced the spelling 'Oriya' with 'Odia' — and Bhojpuri is not scheduled at all.