Subject: GS 02: Polity and Governance
Context: The Supreme Court, while hearing challenges to the CBSE three-language formula, recently examined whether English should be treated as a “non-indigenous” or foreign language in India, given its long history of use and its role in administration, higher education, communication and social mobility.
UPSC Online Coaching
English in India
- Origin: English originated in England and belongs to the Indo-European language family.
- Arrival in India: Its interaction with Indian society began during the 17th century, initially through traders and missionaries and later expanding into administration and education.
- Colonial Administration: English gradually gained importance in governance and eventually replaced Persian as the principal language of higher administration under British rule.
- Macaulay’s Minute: Thomas Babington Macaulay’s Minute on Indian Education (1835) strongly advocated English education and influenced colonial educational policy.
- Post-Independence Role: English continued to be used as an important link language in administration, higher education, judiciary, science and technology, and inter-State communication.
- Indianisation: English has developed distinct Indian varieties, vocabulary and usage, and has become an important medium of Indian literature, journalism, cinema and digital communication.
Constitutional Position of English
- Article 343: Declares Hindi in Devanagari script as the official language of the Union.
- Article 343(2): Provided for the continued use of English for official purposes of the Union for 15 years from the commencement of the Constitution.
- Official Languages Act, 1963: Provided for the continued use of English, alongside Hindi, for specified official purposes of the Union.
- Eighth Schedule: English is not included among the 22 constitutionally recognised languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.
- Important distinction: Being outside the Eighth Schedule does not mean that English is constitutionally prohibited or legally treated simply as a “foreign language.”
Three-Language Formula
- Origin: The three-language formula emerged from the 1968 National Policy on Education and was subsequently modified through later education policies.
- Objective: Its broad objective is to promote multilingualism while balancing the learning of regional languages, Hindi and English.
- NEP 2020: Under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, students are to learn three languages, with at least two being native to India.
- Language Choice: NEP 2020 emphasises that no language should be imposed on any State and provides flexibility in the choice of languages.
Click to Explore UPSC Offline Coaching
28 Aug 2026
