Dogri Language and Linguistic Crisis in India 

Why in the News? 

In recent years, growing concern has emerged over the gradual decline of the Dogri language in the Jammu region.

UPSC Relevance 

Linguistic provisions are often asked in Prelims.

PYQ

2024 Prelims

The Constitution (71st Amendment) Act, 1992 amends the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution to include which of the following languages? 

1. Konkani

2. Manipuri

3. Nepali

4. Maithili

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

a) 1, 2 and 3

b) 1, 2 and 4

c) 1, 3 and 4

d) 2, 3 and 4

India’s Linguistic Crisis

• Global Trend: Human society is rapidly moving towards the extinction of its linguistic heritage.
• India’s Rank: According to a UNESCO report, India has the maximum number of dialects on the verge of extinction.
• Recent Losses: Over 220 languages have been lost in India in the last 50 years (according to D.G Rao, former Director of the Central Institute of Languages).

Recently Extinct Regional Languages

• Bo Language (Andaman Islands): The death of the last known speaker, Boa Sr., in 2010, led to the extinction of this ancient language, which belonged to the Great Andamanese language family.
• Ahom (Himalayan Region): A language from the Tai-Kadai family, once spoken in the Brahmaputra valley.
• Andro
• Rangkas
• Sengmai
• Tolcha (These last four are generally cited as extinct languages from the Himalayan region.)

Languages Under Threat of Extinction 

UNESCO categorizes over 190 languages in India as endangered. The most threatened languages are typically those with very few speakers (fewer than 10,000) and poor inter-generational transmission. It categorizes these languages into five categories : 

Concerns Over Dogri’s Decline

• Emerging Crisis: There is growing concern over the gradual decline of the Dogri language in the Jammu region.
• Root Causes:
  • Socio-Economic Factors: Globalisation, migration, and the pursuit of economic opportunity encourage speakers to prioritise widely used languages, leading to regional ones fading.
  • Political and Social Factors: Political choices and a lack of active interest among native speakers deepen the crisis.
• Formal Recognition vs. Ground Reality:
  • Late Recognition: Dogri had to wait until 2003 for constitutional recognition, meaning it fell behind languages like Urdu, Kashmiri, and Hindi in institutional backing.
  • The J&K Official Languages Bill, 2020, gave Dogri recognition as one of the Union Territory’s five official languages.
  • However, this official status has not translated into a meaningful presence on the ground, as Dogri is largely absent from formal education and administrative use.
• Spoken Dogri Usage
  • Rural Areas: Approximately 56% of respondents actively speak Dogri.
  • Urban Areas: Only 45% of respondents reported speaking Dogri.
• Written Dogri Proficiency
  • Rural Areas: Around 15% of respondents demonstrate the ability to write Dogri.
  • Urban Areas: Only 4% of respondents had any proficiency in writing it.

The Way Ahead

• Technical Challenge (Data): The 2021 Census is on hold, leading to a lack of updated data on endangered languages. This absence of knowledge hinders awareness and effective policy formation.
  • The first linguistic survey of Indian languages was launched in 1894 by George Abraham Grierson, who also prepared the language survey report for the 1901 Census.
  • The 1961 Census of India recorded 1,652 mother tongues, of which SPPEL has identified 117 endangered languages. By 2011, this diversity had expanded significantly, with the census recording 2,843 different mother tongues.
• Mindset Challenge (Policy): There is a need to shed the mindset that equates English alone with progress, making the decolonisation of linguistics the larger task.
• Digital Platforms and AI: Utilize advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and speech recognition to build scalable language solutions.

• Bhashini and BharatGen offer real-time translation and multilingual support across education, governance, and healthcare.
• Adi-Vaani is a dedicated AI-driven system for the preservation and real-time translation of tribal languages.

• Community-Driven Projects: Support local, community-based initiatives that focus on collecting linguistic data, developing learning materials, and promoting cultural activities tied to the language.
• Creative Industries: Encourage the creation of literature, music, and art in the regional languages to make them culturally vibrant and relevant to modern life.

22 Languages in the Eighth Schedule 

Language families in India

Read more on endangered languages and government policies to protect them: Documenting India’s Endangered Languages – PIB