Editing Hindi (section)

===India===
Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with the official language of the Indian Union. Under Article 343, the official languages of the Union have been prescribed, which includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English:

<blockquote>(1) The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals.<ref name="auto" /><br />
(2) Notwithstanding anything in clause (1), for a period of fifteen years from the commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement: Provided that the President may, during the said period, by order authorise the use of the Hindi language in addition to the English language and of the Devanagari form of numerals in addition to the international form of Indian numerals for any of the official purposes of the Union.<ref name="NIC2008">{{cite web|url=http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf |title=The Constitution of India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909230437/http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf |archive-date=9 September 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref></blockquote>

[[s:Constitution of India/Part XVII|Article 351]] of the [[Indian constitution]] states:

<blockquote>It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating without interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule, and by drawing, wherever necessary or desirable, for its vocabulary, primarily on Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages.</blockquote>

It was envisioned that Hindi would become the sole working language of the Union Government by 1965 (per directives in Article 344 (2) and Article 351),<ref name=eighthschedule>{{cite web|url=http://india.gov.in/govt/documents/hindi/PARTXVII.pdf |title=Rajbhasha |publisher=india.gov.in |language=hi, en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131084820/http://www.india.gov.in/govt/documents/hindi/PARTXVII.pdf |archive-date=31 January 2012 }}</ref> with state governments being free to function in the language of their own choice. However, widespread resistance to the [[imposition of Hindi]] on non-native speakers, especially in [[South India]] (such as [[anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu|those in Tamil Nadu]]) led to the passage of the Official Languages Act of 1963, which provided for the continued use of English indefinitely for all official purposes, although the constitutional directive for the Union Government to encourage the spread of Hindi was retained and has strongly influenced its policies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rajbhasha.nic.in/en/official-languages-act-1963|title=The Official Languages Act, 1963 (as Amended, 1967) (Act No. 19 of 1963)|website=Department of Official Language|access-date=9 June 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216142842/http://www.rajbhasha.nic.in/en/official-languages-act-1963|archive-date=16 December 2016}}</ref>

[[s:Constitution of India/Part XVII|Article 344 (2b)]]  stipulates that the official language commission shall be constituted every ten years to recommend steps for the progressive use of Hindi language and impose restrictions on the use of the English language by the union government. In practice, the official language commissions are constantly endeavouring to promote Hindi but not imposing restrictions on English in official use by the union government.

At the state level, Hindi is the official language of the following Indian states: [[Bihar]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Haryana]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Uttar Pradesh]] and [[Uttarakhand]].<ref name="langoff">{{cite web|url=http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM50thReport.pdf |title=Report of the Commissioner for linguistic minorities: 50th report (July 2012 to June 2013) |publisher=Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India |access-date=26 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708012438/http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM50thReport.pdf |archive-date= 8 July 2016}}</ref> Hindi is an official language of [[Gujarat]], along with [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]].<ref name="Benedikter2009">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpZv2GHM7VQC&pg=PA89|title=Language Policy and Linguistic Minorities in India: An Appraisal of the Linguistic Rights of Minorities in India|last=Benedikter|first=Thomas|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|year=2009|isbn=978-3-643-10231-7|page=89|access-date=13 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425230812/https://books.google.com/books?id=vpZv2GHM7VQC&pg=PA89|archive-date=25 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> It acts as an additional official language of [[West Bengal]] in blocks and sub-divisions with more than 10% of the population speaking Hindi.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Roy|first1=Anirban|title=West Bengal to have six more languages for official use |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/east/story/west-bengal-mamata-banerjee-recognizes-six-non-bengali-languages-134507-2011-05-27 |access-date=10 January 2020 |work=India Today |date=27 May 2011 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Indiatoday:1>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/pti-feed/story/kamtapuri-rajbanshi-make-it-to-list-of-official-languages-in-1179890-2018-02-28 |title=Kamtapuri, Rajbanshi make it to list of official languages in |last=Roy |first=Anirban |date=28 February 2018 |magazine=[[India Today]] |access-date=16 March 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330143710/https://www.indiatoday.in/pti-feed/story/kamtapuri-rajbanshi-make-it-to-list-of-official-languages-in-1179890-2018-02-28 |archive-date=30 March 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/hindi-the-first-choice-of-people-in-only-12-states/article27459774.ece|title=Hindi the first choice of people in only 12 States|newspaper=The Hindu|date=4 June 2019|last1=Sen|first1=Sumant}}</ref> Similarly, Hindi is accorded the status of official language in the following [[Union Territories]]:  [[Delhi]], [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]] and [[Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu]].

Although there is no specification of a national language in the constitution, it is a widely held belief that Hindi is the national language of India. This is often a source of friction and contentious debate.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Choudhury |first1=Sushmita |last2=Sharma |first2=Rajesh |date=15 September 2021 |title=70 years on, India is still fighting over a national language |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/70-years-on-india-is-still-fighting-over-a-national-language/articleshow/86196740.cms |access-date=19 March 2022 |work=The Times of India}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Swaddle |first=The |date=12 June 2021 |title=Hindi Isn't India's National Language. Why Does the Myth Continue? |url=https://theswaddle.com/hindi-isnt-indias-national-language-why-does-the-myth-continue/ |access-date=19 March 2022 |website=The Swaddle |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/why-hindi-isnt-the-national-language-6733241.html|title=Why Hindi isn't the national language|date=31 May 2019 |work=Firstpost |access-date=19 March 2022}}</ref> In 2010, the [[Gujarat High Court]] clarified that Hindi is not the national language of India because the constitution does not mention it as such.<ref name="National TOI">{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Theres-no-national-language-in-India-Gujarat-High-Court/articleshow/5496231.cms|title=There's no national language in India: Gujarat High Court|last=Khan|first=Saeed|date=25 January 2010|location=Ahmedabad|access-date=5 May 2014|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|publisher=[[The Times Group]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318040319/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Theres-no-national-language-in-India-Gujarat-High-Court/articleshow/5496231.cms|archive-date=18 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="National PTI">{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/hindi-not-a-national-language-court/article94695.ece|title=Hindi, not a national language: Court|date=25 January 2010|work=[[The Hindu]]|location=Ahmedabad|publisher=[[Press Trust of India]]|access-date=23 December 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704084339/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/hindi-not-a-national-language-court/article94695.ece|archive-date=4 July 2014}}</ref>