Article 344

Official Language Commission and Parliamentary Committee

Official heading: “Commission and Committee of Parliament on official language”

Check this article against the official editionAwaiting human legal review

Source edition: The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
Source locator: Part XVII, Article 344, printed pages 204–205
Last human source-link check: Not yet checked
Last human legal review: Not yet reviewed

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1. In One Sentence

Provides for the appointment of a Commission and a Joint Parliamentary Committee to review and recommend the progressive use of Hindi and restrictions on English.

2. What It Means in Everyday Language

Article 344 created a structured institutional mechanism to evaluate the progressive transition toward the use of Hindi for Union purposes.

Clause (1) mandated the President to constitute an Official Language Commission after five years, and again after ten years from commencement, representing the diverse languages specified in the Eighth Schedule.

Under clause (4), a Parliamentary Committee on Official Language consisting of thirty members (twenty from the Lok Sabha and ten from the Rajya Sabha) was established to review the Commission’s recommendations and report to the President.

Clause (3) contains an essential safeguard: in formulating recommendations, the Commission must pay due regard to the industrial, cultural, and scientific advancement of India and the just claims of persons belonging to non-Hindi speaking areas in the public services.

3. Practical Illustrative Example

Everyday Scenario:

A 30-member Committee of Parliament on Official Language inspects central public sector undertakings to review the implementation of bilingual communication rules.

Core takeaway: Article 344 establishes the constitutional body responsible for monitoring language policy across central government offices.

Illustrative Notice: The Committee’s reports and presidential orders must respect the statutory assurances of the Official Languages Act, 1963 regarding non-Hindi states.

4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions

Article 344 balances the progressive spread of Hindi with the vital interests of non-Hindi linguistic regions.

Eighth Schedule representation: Commission members represent the linguistic diversity of India.
Joint Parliamentary Committee: 30 elected MPs (20 Lok Sabha, 10 Rajya Sabha) examine recommendations.
Equitable considerations: Requires strict regard for the public employment interests and rights of non-Hindi speaking populations.

5. Operative Constitutional Text

(1) The President shall, at the expiration of five years from the commencement of this Constitution and thereafter at the expiration of ten years from such commencement, by order constitute a Commission which shall consist of a Chairman and such other members representing the different languages specified in the Eighth Schedule as the President may appoint, and the order shall define the procedure to be followed by the Commission. (2) It shall be the duty of the Commission to make recommendations to the President as to— (a) the progressive use of the Hindi language for the official purposes of the Union; (b) restrictions on the use of the English language for all or any of the official purposes of the Union; (c) the language to be used for all or any of the purposes mentioned in article 348; (d) the form of numerals to be used for any one or more specified purposes of the Union; (e) any other matter referred to the Commission by the President as regards the official language of the Union and the language for communication between the Union and a State or between one State and another and their use. (3) In making their recommendations under clause (2), the Commission shall have due regard to the industrial, cultural and scientific advancement of India, and the just claims and the interests of persons belonging to the non-Hindi speaking areas in regard to the public services. (4) There shall be constituted a Committee consisting of thirty members, of whom twenty shall be members of the House of the People and ten shall be members of the Council of States to be elected respectively by the members of the House of the People and the members of the Council of States in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. (5) It shall be the duty of the Committee to examine the recommendations of the Commission constituted under clause (1) and to report to the President their opinion thereon. (6) Notwithstanding anything in article 343, the President may, after consideration of the report referred to in clause (5), issue directions in accordance with the whole or any part of that report.

Transcription for reference; compare with the linked official editionNot yet verified by a human legal reviewer

6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations

Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.

Sources & Citation Metadata

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Constitutional TextThe Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)Cited PDF page
Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part XVII, Article 344, printed pages 204–205 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.

Human legal review is pending; compare the text with the cited editionNon-partisan educational resource