The Supreme Court of India directed the Rajasthan government to frame a policy promoting Rajasthani language as a medium of instruction in schools, and to integrate it into education, recognizing its status as a regional mother-tongue, as per constitutional mandate upheld by Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.
The Supreme Court of India directed the Rajasthan government to formulate a comprehensive policy aimed at recognizing and promoting Rajasthani language as a medium of instruction in school education as the language already has academic recognition and acceptance and for effective implementation of the constitutional mandate relating to the mother-tongue-based education.
A Bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta held that the State must take steps to accord appropriate status to Rajasthani as a regional language and gradually integrate it into the education system.
Emphasising the need for a structured and time-bound framework, the Court further directed the State to frame a detailed policy aligned with constitutional objectives and the National Education Policy, 2020.
It said,
“The State shall frame a comprehensive policy for the effective implementation of the constitutional mandate relating to the mother-tongue-based education, particularly in the backdrop of the National Education Policy 2020.”
Background:
The matter arose from a petition challenging the exclusion of Rajasthani from the syllabus of the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) and seeking its inclusion in school education.
The petitioner argued that the omission placed candidates proficient in Rajasthani at a disadvantage and undermined the linguistic and cultural identity of the State. It was further contended that over 4.62 crore people speak Rajasthani, making its exclusion inconsistent with educational and constitutional principles.
It was also pointed out that while Rajasthani was excluded from REET, other regional languages such as Gujarati, Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu were included in the examination syllabus.
Reliance was placed on Article 350A of the Constitution, the Right to Education framework, and the National Education Policy, 2020, all of which emphasise mother-tongue-based education in early schooling.
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The petitioners further highlighted that the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly had, over two decades ago, passed a resolution recommending inclusion of Rajasthani in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, though the proposal has not yet been implemented.
Observations of the Court:
The Court observed that the absence of a clear policy framework for introducing Rajasthani in schools had created an empty space in an area of constitutional and educational significance. It stressed that early education in mother tongue plays a pivotal role in cognitive development and learning outcomes.
The Bench directed that Rajasthani should be introduced as a subject in both government and private schools in a phased manner, beginning with foundational classes and gradually extending to higher levels of schooling.
The Court said,
“The State shall take necessary measures to recognise and accord due status to the Rajasthani language as a local or regional language for educational purposes and to progressively facilitate its adoption as a medium of instruction, initially at the foundational and preparatory stages of schooling and progressively at higher levels in a manner consistent with the constitutional principles and the pedagogical requirements,”
The Court also rejected the State’s contention that only languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution qualify for inclusion in school curricula. It noted that such an approach ignores the existing academic and cultural presence of Rajasthani.
It pointed out that Rajasthani is already being taught in several universities across the State, including Jai Narain Vyas University, Maharaja Ganga Singh University, and University of Rajasthan. The Court acknowledged that the language already has academic recognition and acceptance.
The Court observed,
“We may note that Rajasthani is presently being taught as a subject in the universities across the state of Rajasthan… yet the procrastinating stand consistently taken by the state… discloses an apparent pedantic approach for the academic recognition of Rajasthani at the higher education level itself, (and) belies all the suggestions that the language lacks institutional or pedagogical acceptance,”
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