APPENDICES :
I. RESOLUTION OF THE WORKING COMMITTEE OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS DATED AUGUST 5, 1949
 

"The question of language has been agitating the public mind and in the opinion of the Working Committee it is desirable to lay down certain principles which may be applied having regard to peculiar circumstances prevailing in particular areas.

The question has to be considered from two points of view viz., educational and administrative. There is the further question of a State Language for the country as a whole which will be the language also of intercourse between different areas having separate languages.

There are at present provinces or States where more than one language is spoken. Many of these languages are rich and have valuable literatures of their own. They should not only be preserved but further developed and enriched and nothing should be done to act as a handicap to their growth.

In Provinces and States where more than one language prevails there are areas which indisputably belong to one language or another. Besides such areas there are areas on the fringe where one language gradually slips into another and for purposes of this resolution, such areas may be termed bilingual areas.

It is for a Province or State to decide what its language is. In Multilingual Provinces undisputed areas belonging to the various languages as also the fringe or bilingual areas should be demarcated and the language of each indicated by the Province or State concerned.

For administrative purposes the language of the Province or the area concerned should be used. In fringe or bilingual areas if the minority is of a considerable size i.e. 20 per cent of the population, documents which the public at large have to use, such as, Government notices, electoral rolls, ration cards, etc. should be in both languages. For Court and administrative purposes, the language of the province or area will be used in all public offices. It will be open, however, to any person having another language to submit petition in his own language, which is officially recognised.

For all India purposes there will be a State language in which the business of the Union will be conducted. That will be the language of correspondence with the Provincial and State Governments. All records of the Centre will be kept and maintained in that language. It will also serve as the language for inter-provincial and inter-State commerce and correspondence. During a period of transition which shall not exceed 15 years, English may be used at the Centre and for inter-Provincial affairs, provided that the State language will be progressively utilized until it replaces English."

Educational purposes

At the primary stage a child shall get instruction in his mother tongue which will be according to the wishes of the guardian or parents of the child. It will ordinarily be the language of the area or the Province. But in other places also and particularly in fringe areas and in large cities where people speaking different languages congregate, public primary schools giving instructions in the language of a minority will be opened or sections joined to other primary schools, if there is a reasonable number say 15 pupils in a class demanding instructions in that language. But even in such schools and sections giving instruction through a minority language, provincial language will be introduced at the middle stage even for children speaking the minority language. Instructions at the secondary stage will ordinarily be given in the Provincial language but where a sufficiently large number of pupils demand it schools may be run for sections attached to other schools in a minority language, provided that this will be determined in having regard to conditions prevailing in the locality, such as whether there are any existing institutions, Government or private, giving instructions through the minority language, whether the finances of the provinces can afford such inde- pendent schools etc. At the secondary stage study of the All India State language should be taken up as a Second language. At the University stage the medium of instruction will be the Provincial language.

For the purposes of this resolution Urdu shall be one of the languages concerned.

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