The Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020
INTRODUCED BY
Introduced by
G Kishan Reddy
Minister of State of Home
SYNOPSIS
The bill proposes to add 3 new languages – Kashmiri, Dogri and Hindi as the official language for Jammu and Kashmir in addition to Urdu and English, as the majority of the population speaks Kashmiri and Dogri as their local languages.
HIGHLIGHTS
Salient Points ()
The Union Territory now has 5 official languages - Urdu, Hindi, Kashmiri, Dogri and English
Making local language as official language was a long pending demand from the public from decades.
Urdu, Hindi and Dogri languages are also among Eight Schedule Languages.
BACKGROUND
Earlier only English and Urdu were official languages for J & K for the last 131 years.
But there has been a demand by the public to make Kashmiri and Dogri, the languages they speak (local languages) as the official languages of the state from a long time.
After Ladakh was declared as a separate UT on 5 Aug 2019, Kashmiri and Dogri got added as two other official languages for the state.
KEY STATS
TIMELINES
The bill got introduced in Lok Sabha.
The bill got passed in Lok Sabha.
The bill got passed in Rajya Sabha
WHY (as per govt/agencies)
Salient Points ()
This will strengthen the institutional structure for the promotion and development such as the Academy of Art, Culture and languages
This is one way to restore the traditional culture and language, which play an important role as part of culture and history
It was a long pending demand from the people of J&K, i.e. declaring their local language as official language of the region
This was seen as a spirit towards equality (especially after Ladhak was declared as a seperate UT)
WHY NOT (as per opposition)
Salient Points ()
The central government do not have legislative competence (qualification) to frame a bill - Hasnain Masoodi
The decision was imposing and forcing. The central government did not discuss the same with local/state body
Having more than two official languages would lead to linguistic polarization (confusion which language to use)
Other group would demand for the inclusion of Gojri, Pahari and Punjabi as official languages of J & K
MEDIA SAYING
Media Saying ()
The Wire 
VIDEO
Videos ()
FAQs
It is the list of 22 official languages recognized by the Constitution.
Assamese
Bengali
Bodo
Dogri
Gujarati
Hindi
Kannada
Kashmiri
Konkani
Maithili
Malayalam
Manipuri
Marathi
Nepali
Odia
Punjabi
Sanskrit
Santhal
Sindhi
Tamil
Telugu
Urdu
ORIGINAL BILL
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