Official Languages Act, 1963
Act of the Parliament of India
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History
The act was passed to pre-empt protests in certain southern states, such as Tamil Nadu, where there was significant opposition to the "imposition" of Hindi.
In late 1964, an attempt was made to expressly provide for an end to the use of English, but it was met with protests from states and territories, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka, Puducherry, Nagaland, Mizoram and Andhra Pradesh. Some of these protests also turned violent. As a result, the proposal was dropped, and the Act itself was amended in 1967 under the Indira Gandhi administration to provide that the use of English would not be ended until a resolution to that effect was passed by the legislature of every state that had not adopted Hindi as its official language, and by each house of the Indian Parliament.
On 18 January 1968, the Official Language Resolution was passed by the Parliament of India which further mandated the development and promotion of all the languages listed in the Eighth Schedule. As per the resolution, the Government of India was obligated to take measures for the development of the languages defined in the eighth schedule.
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Provision
The act provide for the languages which might be used for the official purposes of the union. The act effectively made English a permanent official language of India, notwithstanding the constitution limiting this to the 15 years after 1950. The act effectively made the government of India bilingual.
The act establishes the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language and section 4 of the act states that its remit is to review the progress made in using Hindi for the official purposes of Union and submit a report.