HistoryModern India: Framing the Constitution

Under the compromise formula of the Language Committee of the Constit…

Under the compromise formula of the Language Committee of the Constituent Assembly, for how long would English continue to be used for all official purposes?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → The first fifteen years

The Committee made the move to Hindi gradual: English would stay for all official purposes for the first fifteen years.

NCERT (2026-27): “5.1 A plea for Hindi …
Almost three years later, on 13 September 1949, Dhulekar’s speech on the language of the nation once again sparked off a huge storm. By now the Language Committee of the Constituent Assembly had produced its report and had thought of a compromise formula to resolve the deadlock between those who advocated Hindi as the national language and those who opposed it. It had decided, but not yet formally declared, that Hindi in the Devanagari script would be the official language, but the transition to Hindi would be gradual. For the first fifteen years, English would continue to be used for all official purposes. Each province was to be allowed to choose one of the regional languages for official work within the province. …”