21st Amendment of the Indian Constitution

The 21st Amendment of the Indian Constitution was adopted in 1967. It added the Sindhi language to the Eighth Schedule of the constitution. It was considered to be an important amendment.

In this article, we will explore its objectives and essential provisions. 21st amendment of the Indian Constitution is a part of Indian Polity covered under the syllabus of UPSC.

What is the 21st Amendment of the Indian Constitution?

The 21st Amendment of the Indian Constitution is officially referred to as The Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment) Act, 1967. This amendment was passed in 1967. It added the Sindhi language to the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

Sindhi was now recognized as an official state language, bringing the overall number of languages on the 8th schedule to fifteen. It was one of the most consequential amendments to the Constitution of India.

The eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution lists the official languages of the Republic of India. The languages were qualified for representation in the Commission for Official Languages if it was listed.

The following 22 languages are included in the eighth schedule:-

Kashmiri, Kannada, Hindi, Konkani, Bodo, Bengali, Dogri, Assamese, Gujarati, Maithili, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Nepali, Marathi, Manipuri, Malayalam, Odia, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.

Objects and Reasons

Sindhi speakers’ persistent demands for their language to be added to the 8th schedule. Despite Sindhi not being a regional language, the commissioner for linguistic minorities advocated its inclusion in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution at the time.

The government, therefore, decided to add the Sindhi language to the 8th schedule of the constitution in response to the desire of the Sindhi-speaking population. This led to the Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment) Act, of 1967.

Important Provisions of the 21st Amendment Act, 1967

1. 21st Amendment of the Constitution of India amended the 8th Schedule.
2. After this amendment Sindhi is added to the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution as an official language.

Additional Information

1. Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment) Act, 1967 is the other name of the 21st amendment of the Indian Constitution.
2. On March 20th,1967, it was first presented in the Rajya Sabha.
3. Yashwantrao Chavan proposed it. He was the Minister of Home Affairs at that time.
4. It aimed to change the Constitution’s Eighth Schedule to add Sindhi as one of the schedule’s designated languages.
5. On April 10, 1967, the Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment) Bill, 1967, was approved by then President Zakir Hussain.
6. The legislation relating to the 21st Amendment is the 71st and 92nd Amendments.
7. The Sindhi language used to be the province language of undivided India.
8. The Constitution’s eighth Schedule listed 22 official languages.

Visit the linked article to know about the 71st Amendment of the Indian Constitution.

Conclusion

The Sindhi language was incorporated into the 8th Schedule in the 21st amendment of the Indian constitution. On March 20, 1967, Yashwantrao Chavan passed this Constitution act, and the Minister of Home Affairs afterward amended the Constitution’s 8th Schedule.

The bill was discussed in the Rajya Sabha on April 4, 1967. It was then passed on that very day, in its original form.

The Rajya Sabha’s bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on April 7, 1967, following scrutiny. The law was approved by the president at the time, Zakir Hussain, on April 10, 1967 and was published in the official bulletin of the Indian government. It was brought into effect on the same day.

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