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introduce local language in all schools: Sc to raj
The Supreme Court directed Rajasthan to adopt Rajasthani as a school subject, emphasizing mother-tongue education and compliance by 2026.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Rajasthan government to formulate a policy for introducing Rajasthani as a subject in all schools across the state in a phased and progressive manner, underscoring that the constitutional vision of mother-tongue education and the National Education Policy, 2020 cannot be allowed to remain “dormant for want of executive action”.
A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta held that the state must take “affirmative and time-bound steps” towards providing Rajasthani language education in both government and private schools, while rejecting Rajasthan government’s stand that only languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution could be taught as additional languages in schools.
The state, the bench ordered, 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 constitutional principles and pedagogical requirements.
“The aforesaid directions are necessitated by the palpable vacuum presently operating in an area of significant constitutional importance. Constitutional guarantees and policy declarations, particularly those bearing upon access to meaningful and inclusive education, cannot be permitted to remain dormant for want of executive action,” held the bench.
The court directed the state government to place on record a compliance affidavit by September 25, 2026 and listed the matter for September 30.
The ruling is likely to have wider ramifications for similar demands concerning regional languages across India, particularly where linguistic communities seek integration of native languages into school education even in the absence of formal constitutional recognition.
Tuesday’s ruling came on a petition filed by Padam Mehta and another petitioner seeking inclusion of Rajasthani in the state’s educational framework and in the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET), while also invoking the constitutional mandate favouring education in one’s mother tongue.
The petitioners relied upon pertinent provisions of the Constitution, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, and the NEP, 2020 to contend that children should, “as far as practicable”, receive primary education in their mother tongue.
Before the court, senior advocate Manish Singhvi, appearing for Mehta, argued that Rajasthani is spoken by crores of people and possesses a rich literary, linguistic and cultural heritage, but continues to remain excluded from the state’s formal educational structure despite a resolution passed by the Rajasthan legislative assembly on August 25, 2003 recommending inclusion of the language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
Responding, the state, through additional advocate general Shiv Mangal Sharma, contended that since Rajasthani has not been included in the Eighth Schedule, no policy decision has been taken, nor does any administrative framework presently exist, for its adoption either as a medium of instruction or a compulsory subject.
But the bench underscored that the NEP, 2020 places considerable emphasis on imparting foundational education in the child’s home language or mother tongue and observed that the constitutional mandates under various provisions providing for accessible and inclusive education cannot be ignored merely because Rajasthani has not yet found place in the Eighth Schedule.
Rejecting the state’s stand, the court indicated that linguistic inclusion in educational policy cannot be narrowly tied to constitutional scheduling alone, particularly where a language has deep cultural roots and widespread social usage.
The bench also stressed that access to education in one’s mother tongue is intrinsically linked with meaningful and inclusive learning, especially at the foundational stage. The judgment repeatedly referred to the constitutional vision of preserving linguistic identity while ensuring substantive educational access.
“Education, being a primary vehicle for transmission of knowledge, must, to the extent practicable, be imparted in a language that the child understands best. Instruction in the mother language, or a language of choice, fortifies the learner’s conceptual clarity, ensures deeper cognitive engagement, and secures the constitutional promise of meaningful access to knowledge,” said the bench.
The court’s intervention assumes significance in the backdrop of long-standing demands for formal recognition of Rajasthani, which has several dialectical variants and is widely spoken across the state. The Rajasthan Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution more than two decades ago seeking inclusion of Rajasthani in the Eighth Schedule, but no final decision has yet been taken by the Union government.
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