On Tuesday, the Supreme Court directed the Rajasthan government to formulate a policy and introduce the mother tongue Rajasthani language across all schools and colleges in the state. The bench comprising of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta noted that Rajasthan must make sure that it implements mother tongue-based education as per National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The top court directed the state to take necessary steps and immediately recognise and grant due status to Rajasthani (the regional language for educational purposes). The court also directed the gradual introduction of the regional language as a medium, starting with foundational and preparatory stages and moving up to higher levels of education.

Policy Delay on Rajasthani Language

The Supreme Court’s judgment came after an appeal was filed against the Rajasthan High Court, which had refused to intervene, stating the matter was a policy issue. The petitioner had pleaded to include Rajasthani as a subject in schools and in the syllabus. While delivering the judgement, the bench noted that the language is already studied in universities across Rajasthan, even though the state government argued that only languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution are taught as additional languages in government primary and upper primary schools. The court called this approach “pedantic,” and found the claim that the Rajasthani language lacks recognition in institutions nullified by the fact that it is already taught at the university level. The panel also noted that while the policy formation is the domain of the executive, the judiciary cannot be a ‘silent spectator’ while constitutional rights are weakened due to inaction or indifference.

The court highlighted that the Union government has already acknowledged the importance of education in a regional language understandable to children; however, the state has not taken meaningful and timely steps for its implementation.

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