संसदीय राजभाषा समिति, Parliamentary Official Language Committee, Department of Official Language , Government of India

BACKGROUND OF THE COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT ON OFFICIAL LANGUAGE.

The Committee of Parliament on Official Language came into existence as a result of the arrangements made in the Official Language Act, 1963. The said Act was created to determine the official language policy of the Union after 26 January, 1965, envisaged to adopt Hindi for official purposes. Section 4 (1) of the Act provides that the Official Language Committee will be constituted after the expiry of ten years from the date of commencement of Section 3 of the said Act (i.e. 26 January, 1965). Accordingly, the Committee of Parliament on Official Language was formed in January, 1976. According to the provisions of the act, the duties entrusted to the Committee are to review the progress made in the use of Hindi for the official purposes of the Union and to submit report to the President while making recommendations on it. The President will get that report laid before every House of Parliament thereafter and send it to all the State Governments.

While presenting the report, it is necessary for the Committee to make a brief assessment of the provisions of the Constitution, the orders issued by the President from time to time, recommendations of the Kher Commission and the Pant Committee, the Official Languages Act and Rules and the resolutions passed by the Parliament.

After the expiry of ten years from commencement of section 3, a committee related to the official language was to be constituted on the basis of a resolution proposed in any house with the President's prior approval and passed by both the Houses.

This committee will consist of thirty members, twenty of which will be members of the Lok Sabha and ten will be members of the Rajya Sabha, which will be elected according to the system of proportional representation through single transferable vote by members of the Lok Sabha and members of Rajya Sabha respectively.

After considering the report referred to in sub-section (3) and the views, if any, expressed by the State Governments, the President will issue directions on the whole report or any part thereof, but the directions drawn in this manner shall not be incompatible with the provisions of Section 3.