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THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY March 6, 1965
English, Hindi and the Regional Languages
I P Desai
Thanks to the lack of a clear policy on the official language, from time to time English or Hindi has been
pushed forward and backward at the cost of the regional languages. Attention and energy have been diverted to the
Hindi-English controversy while the State administrations have continued to use English and not the regional lan-
guages.
The conflict between Hindi and the regional languages has been fostered and aggravated very cleverly by the
proponents of English, aided, of course by the folly of the Hindi-speaking supporters of Hindi who have failed to
realise that the growth of the national language will come about only through the growth of the regional languages.
The fact, as The Economic Weekly's South Corespondent pointed out in his despatch in the Annual Number,
1965, is that the only way for Hindi to become acceptable is through emphasis on the regional languages with a view
to their gradual take over from English.
I ENTIRELY agree with the con- hood and of achieving social status. vocating caution, gradualness, prepara-
clusion of your correspondent in The position of English in the hierarchy tion, etc, so that ultimately the change
his Letter from South in the Annual of values has come down to more im- over to regional language never mater-
Number, February 1965, that "The mediate ends than to distant ends in ialises. They know that English just
only way for Hindi is first and fore- the minds of the mass of population does not work in the colleges and uni-
most an emphasis on the regional lan- which is taking to education in num- versities but they cling to it. They
guages, carefully worked out plan for bers much larger than at any time in know very well that the large mass of
their rapid take over from English." the past. And what is more important, students do not have the environments,
I also agree with the reasoning by it will continue to grow larger. This either at home or in the educational
which he arrives at this conclusion and means that the social base of the col- institutions, congenial to English as a
I endorse the social realism behind it. lege and university educated is becom- medium of instruction. They run away
Your correspondent observes correctly, ing broader and will continue to do so. from this reality and try to save
"India has still largely a pseudo-self Education is growing among the lower English by advocating the restriction of
and "what has not happened is the income groups of the higher castes and admissions and by proposing increase
creation of Indian nation". He comes higher income groups of the so-called in papers, hours and years of teaching
to the point which touches the sociolo- lower castes in urban and rural areas English. But the command of the
gist when he says that "this must rank respectively. Their traditions and the students over English does not increase.
as one of the biggest failures of middle contemporary experience of life arc Yet English is continued as the medium
class in history." The important ques- different from the traditions of the of instruction. The same students go
tion, therefore, is what is the character 19th century educated class. Conse- out as assistants in offices and teachers
of the middle class? What are the so- quently, the large mass of recently in schools and colleges. Hence again
cial groups from which this class comes educated and uneducated class has the complaint of their poor standard of
and what are the values and attitudes different values and its attitude to- English. They just fail to realise that
that it possesses at this particular point wards English, as we have said, is of a the regional language is the most effec-
of time in the history of the nation? more functional nature and there is a tive means of communication, for the
hiatus between the values of the policy spread of science and scientific altitude.
Changed Role of English makers and of those influential in policy Not to introduce, therefore, the regional
The identification by your corres- making and the values and attitudes of language as the medium of instruction
the large number of newly educated is to hamper the spread of science and
pondent is simple and workable. He
refers to the class of persons educated people. scientific attitude. The advocates of
under the system of education introduc- The Stumbling Block English in this sense are becoming the
ed by the British, particularly the class These policy makers and influential stumbling block in all that is new and
which has taken education upto gradu- persons do not see or probably do not desirable. In effect, they are playing
ation and above. "In the early phase like to see the changed role of English. the role of conservatives and reaction-
this intelligentsia drawn from the land- They cannot get rid of the heritage of aries however progressive they may like
lord class or from one or another com- the 19th century intelligentsia which to appear.
prador occupations came to English as was clear and honest about the Indian Role of Intelligentsia
a means of westernisation which they society of the future—the westernised Is the intelligentsia not intelligent
felt was the only way forward to the India. Westernisation was the openly enough to realise this? The intelli-
modern regeneration of their country." accepted creed with them. Their con- gentsia is, though the class of influenti-
A point needs to be added here. These temporary inheritors are not in a posi- al persons may not be. Here it is ne-
were also the people settled in the ur- tion to stand by them in their creed, cessary to point out a new develop-
ban areas, the big towns of those days probably because they do not have the ment in the composition of the intelli-
and they came from one or two higher conviction and perspective of the 19th gentsia. With the growth of university
castes in each linguistic region. century Indian westerniser. That is education an academic intelligentsia is
To these 19th century proponents of why the defenders of English always growing as specialists in their subjects.
English, the English language was the begin by agreeing that the regional It is not of any significant size but it
language of culture. The role of Eng- language is the proper media of instruc- is a qualitative difference which will
lish today has changed and it has be- tion and administration in the states. grow. These are the persons with abil-
come the means of earning the liveli- But in the same breadth they start ad- ity to see things but they are cut off
441
March 6, 1965 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY
from the social currents because they fact all over the world. Thus their ween the various levels of leadership
are interested in solving their own aca- social base, their values and attitudes and their supporters through whom
ademic problems. Their intellectual
play an important role in policy mak- they gain positions of power. This gulf
honesty is not questioned here but their ing and its execution. It is not that is generally narrowed by the growth of
awareness of their social responsibility they consciously ally with the particu- specialists in political activity, the pro-
is perhaps not based on sufficient ob- lar stratum from which they come. The fessional politician. He generally re-
servation and thought, just because they stratum strongly conditions a man's presents the interest group in wider so-
dislike being disturbed in their pur- outlook and he normally acts according ciety. Until, therefore, the interest
suits. Yet they have opinions based on to its standards. Hence we find that groups are organised, this hiatus con-
their contact with their "society" of persons from a given upper strata are tinues to be glaring. As interest cons-
policy makers and the influential who against their own regional language or ciousness grows, the distance between
use them for their own purposes. Also, at least they are not enthusiastic fur leadership and its following narrows
they are cut off from the large mass of their regional language. down. This is probably what is hap-
teachers who handle the large mass of pening at this level in India,
students in undergraduate colleges and Difference in Outlook Urban Interests in Rural Areas
post-graduate students in places other The government intelligentsia do not
than the metropolitan cities. If they find much difficulty in their daily work The rural areas in India are not :he
had either first hand experience or con- because the politicians who are the same today as they were in pre-inde-
tact with those in touch with the large principal policy makers are as a rule pendence era. Of course, the changes
mass of students, they would very pro- English knowing, at least those who are have not been to the same extent in
bably hold different opinions. put in ministerial position. But among all the States, and that makes a diffe-
So the effective supporters of English politicians the heterogenity in terms of rence. The main difference is of the
are the policy makers and the influential. the university degree, knowledge of penetration of the urban occupational
Who are they? Among the policy English, occupation, income and rural interests and the outlook co-related to
makers are included the secretaries— or urban origin and outlook and caste it in the rural areas. The small towns,
joint, additional, deputy, assistant and is more pronounced than in the case of with population ranging from say,
under — and advisers. We designate government intelligentsia. In all the thirty thousand to one lakh are grow-
them as government intelligentsia. Then political parties at the leadership level ing in number and importance and the
there are the ministers of various sta- in the parliamentary groups the minis- metropolitan urban interests have their
tuses at the Centre and in the States. ters are either degree holders or Eng- footholds there. Their agents there
They are directly related to the in- lish knowing but the members of the set a standard for the style of living
fluential in their political party as also legislative parties are not always. Yet and aspirations. These agents are the
the members of legislatures at the Cen- the proportions of rural agriculture lawyers, doctors, businessmen, govern-
tre and in the States belonging to the based persons, having not much know- ment officers, branch managers of banks
ledge of English, do not have domina- and such other concerns. All these
non-government parties. These have groups have their associations with the
their supporters in their parties and out- ting influence in the parliamentary bigger cities of the area and the im-
side it in the society who may not be parties at the centre. The urban bas portance of the individuals in theses
the members of any political party. ed working class members are still rare, groups in their local setting depends on
but their number and the number of this contact with the luminaries of
The Policy-Makers agriculture based members are grow- their interests in the bigger cities and,
The social characteristics of these ing in the State legislatures. The re- in the final analysis, in the capital city.
policy makers and the influential, their sult is that the difference in the out- The Rotary, the Lions Clubs and the
values and attitudes enter into policy look of the leadership and of their im- Junior Chambers provide them the con-
making and in the execution of the mediate supporters is growing in all fact places. The well-to-do agriculturist
language policy and in the reactions of the political parties. and the shopkeeper in the interior is
the people to the policy. But the difference between the top their last post in the rural area. The
The government intelligentsia comes leaders and the electorate is still wider. leadership comes from these interests
from the upper castes, upper income It is true that in any State a political or their nominees and they are the pro-
groups and urban areas or from the ur- party can come to power only on the ponents and supporters of English in
ban influenced sections of rural areas, agricultural vote. At least this is true rural and they are the vocal groups and
but in small numbers. They are all de- in the case of the present ruling party. when it is said that even the rural
gree holders and also probably specia- Nearly seventy per cent of the Indian people want English, these are the rural
lists in some branches of knowledge. voters are illiterate, i.e. innocent of people, the vocal groups. The social
They obey and respect the ministers as even the alphabets of their regional base of English is thus widened and its
a matter of routine. But they like or language. Yet it is this voter who puts spread has gone into the rural areas,
dislike the minister according to his a party in power. They live in rural i e, nearer to the villages.
social origin, his academic achieve- areas and earn their living by agricul- A development which the proponents
ture and occupations dependent on it.
ments, experience and ability. Being and supporters of English deplore is
what they are, they have to execute the But the top level leadership comes
policy. But they can influence the mi- rarely from this group and even the that the strata which formerly remain-
second rank leadership which is nearer ed untouched by education now show
nisters by putting up a weak case a strong desire for it and are sending
strongly or a strong case weakly. The to this group, physically and socially, their children to schools and colleges.
declared policy can be delayed, hasten- is yet not of that group. The social composition of primary and
ed or twisted in practice. The depen- By the very nature of the political secondary school pupils and of college
dence of the ministers or the govern- activity this is bound to happen and students in rural areas is changing.
ment on these persons is an established there will always be some distance bet- Though the higher caste students may
442
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY March 6, 1965
be larger in proportion to their caste is that of the nineteenth century Bri- gions in economic and educational
population, the absolute number of tish society. But have the communists fields. But it has given a sense of In-
other castes is increasing. These are and the P S P unequivocally and whole- herent quality to certain regional groups
heartedly proposed and propagated for in regard to certain types of admini-
also the lower income groups. For
them education is not only a means of the regional language as the medium strative and technical jobs. Side by
earning the livelihood, it is also a of instruction at all levels of education? side with the channelisation of ambi-
means of raising their own status in It is possible that in particular plans tions of the educated section of that
their groups and of their groups in re- and in particular situations they might region in that direction comes the belief
lation with the traditionally higher have paid lip service to regional langu- in the inherent incompetence of the
groups. age because it suited their immediate people of other regions in that held.
The whole mass of rural students and political aims. Otherwise, they have The other groups do not admit that
that section coming from lower income been more faithful to the strata from claim. Consequently, there are ten-
groups of ail castes in urban areas which their leadership comes than to sions, This sort of tensions are not
suffer the most from the handicap of their rank and file on whose votes they peculiar to India, but they exist in all
the English medium. Compared to the win their elections. countries wherever similar situations
size of these groups it is to the insigni- The real conflict regarding the place obtain, including Europe and America.
ficantly small group in society that of English, Hindi and the regional They are eased when development re-
English medium affords an advantage lenguages is in the Congress Party. At aches a comparable level in all regions.
in addition to the social and economic the States level, the consensus is on the But the intensity of the tensions be-
advantages that they already have. regional language as the medium of comes greater while development is
Large number of school and college administration. But there is division taking place and also probably when
teachers come from this latter section regarding the medium of instruction at the rate of development is faster or
and their views are generally consist- the university level. Even regarding slower in different regions. The poli-
the administration, the judiciary at the tical policy makers have to devise
ent with their position in the hierarchy. top level is conservative. mechanisms to manage these tensions
There is some modification in their Language and the Civil Service and not wait till the crisis overtakes
position when they are guided by lin- them. If the tensions are not managed
guistic chauvinism and by the con- In administration the resistence to now they will hamper the development
siderations of job opportunities for men the regional language comes from what process. Therefore it is necessary to
from their own region. we have called the government intel- face the problem and not postpone it.
English and Mobility ligentsia and the high-ranking officials, The ostrich-like policy of the last 17
many of whom might belong to the years has aggravated the tensions and
The usual argument in favour of central services. In some regions not eased them.
English as promoting mobility is a fur- which were slow in catching up with
ther illustration of the interests of the the spread of education, there are many Regional Languages Neglected
small group that English serves. From persons from other linguistic regions. The clever policy of giving support
every region two types of persons mi- But in others there are few persons to English, Hindi and regional langu-
grate: the educated and the illiterate. from other linguistic regions in that ages has not satisfied anyone, and by
The educated communicate in English cadre. A powerful Chief Minister of administrative manouvers, English or
with the English-knowing persons of a State was reported to have said that Hindi has been pushed forth and back
the other regions. But do the large he would not have central service men at the cost of regional languages. In
numbers of engineering, textile and coming from a different linguistic re- each State attention and energy have
building workers from other regions gion. The distribution of regional and been diverted to the Hindi-English con-
communicate with the local people in non-region men in every State, in Cen- troversy and the State administrations
English? They manage with some sort tral and the higher services of the State continued to operate in English and not
of Hindi. Do the proponents of Eng- will be quite revealing. It would reveal in the regional language. Not only that
lish visualise a day when all such mi- that mobility means mobility in one but the conflict between Hindi and re-
grants will be communicating in Eng- direction only and it is not inter-re- gional languages was aggravated,
lish? This is moonshine in view of the gional mobility. This will be true even thanks to the cleverness of the propon-
fact that only 35 per cent of the in regard to secondary and university ents of English and the folly of some
population is literate and 2 per cent teachers. Thus the personnel of the Hindi speaking proponents of Hindi.
know English. Even so English is services in one factor in the re- The latter did not declare their full-
shown as the language promoting mobi- sistence to the regional language. When throated support to the regional langu-
lity. It does, but whose? Of the minor the personnel is from the same region, age in State administration and as the
groups of two or three higher castes the resistence to the regional language medium of instruction. They thought
and the new well-to-do of the lower is largely due to their class position. that more officers and teachers from
castes. The reference group of the pro- The resistence to Hindi as the official Hindi speaking areas would automatic-
ponents of English is that small group language of the union is due to the ex- ally strengthen Hindi in other regions.
from which they come, pected competition to existing groups The behaviour of these officers and
English medium is thus thorough- from other regional groups. The mem- teachers was also repugnant to the
ly inconsistent with the advo- bers of the central services who are local people. They not only brought
working hard against monopolies in the the clerks but also the peons from the
cacy of democracy and socialism.
Yet what has been the position of the economic field are working equally Hindi speaking areas (e g, in the oil
hard to maintain their monopoly in projects in Gujarat). The standards of
parties professing these? The
position of the Swatantra party is their own field. efficiency of the local peons fell much
easily understandable. Their vision This situation is largely due to the below the standards inherited by the
unequal development of different re- officers and their wives from the feud-
of the future Indian democracy
443
March 6, 1965 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY
al landlordism. If the peons do not India. An inefficient man does not be-
imperialism becomes stronger. The
come up to that standard of efficiency, English enthusiast asks the peon if he come efficient in another region. And
need anything be said of clerks and knows English. Whether or not he further as our aim is to reduce tension
lecturers from that region? If such knows cooking and table service is in- a little difference in efficiency should
was not the situation, the Maharashtra quired by both Hindi and English en- be tolerated in favour of the local man.
Chief Minister would not have to thusists. As a matter of policy in all The higher posts have to be filled
plead while inaugurating some project the central projects the smaller posts keeping the requirements of the post
that local people should also be given must be filled by the local people. This in view and not the region of the can-
opportunities of employment in that will not affect efficiency at all, because didate or his mastery over English or
project* Thus the suspicion of Hindi we complain of inefficiency all over Hindi, And whatever the language of
444
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