The House will see that this article 344 deals with the Commission and Committee of Parliament on official language which the President shall at the expiration of five years from the commencement of this Constitution and thereafter at the expiration of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution constitute. The Commission will be asked to report on various matters connected with the progress of the development of the official language in the Union and in the States as well. Clause (3) as it was accepted by the House at the consideration stage says: “In making their recommendation under clause (2) of’ this article the Commission shall have due regard to the industrial, cultural and scientific advancement of India and the just claims and interests of the non-Hindi speaking areas in regard to public services.” The amendment that has been moved by the Drafting Committee substitutes the words “non-Hindi speaking areas” by the words “persons belonging to the non-Hindi speaking areas”. But, Sir, a new article 347 has been inserted by the Drafting Committee, and that refers to a special provision relating to the language spoken by sections of the population of a State. Now, this clause (3) of article 344 relates to the interests of persons belonging to the non-Hindi speaking areas in regard to public services. Now, Sir, it is easy to say which is a Hindi speaking area and which is a non-Hindi speaking area. For instance, Bihar, the United Provinces, Delhi are definitely Hindi speaking areas, also the northern part of C. P., i.e., Mahakoshal. If we leave this article as it is, that is to say, make reference only to persons belonging to those areas, I think the interests of the non-Hindi speaking sections of the population will not be adequately safeguarded, because within the Hindi speaking areas there may be people who do not speak the Hindi language, whose mother-tongue is not Hindi,–may be a linguistic minority. Everywhere, all over India, we have linguistic minorities in every province and this, as the House is very well aware, is given as an argument against the creation of linguistic provinces, because even after the creation of linguistic provinces, there will be linguistic minorities in every province. Therefore my point is that it is not adequate to say that this article should safeguard the interests of the persons belonging to non-Hindi speaking areas. What is intended is to safeguard the interests of the non-Hindi speaking sections of the population as a whole, wherever they may be found. There are a number of Madrasis in Delhi today and some of them did voice their apprehensions that if Hindi was adopted as the official language within five years or even earlier, their interests with regard to the services might be affected. Though they live in Delhi, thought they live in a Hindi speaking area, they are non-Hindi speaking sections of the population. That is the distinction I want to make. Therefore if we want to say what we mean, we must make it clear, that what is sought to be safeguard in this clause is not the interests of persons belonging to non-Hindi speaking areas but the interests of the non-Hindi speaking sections of the people. Therefore, I move amendment No. 401 and command it to the House for its consideration.
