PART XVII
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
CHAPTER I.-
LANGUAGE OF THE UNION 344. Commission and Committee of Parliament on official language.-
(1) The President shall, at the expiration of five years from the
commencement of this Constitution and thereafter at the expiration of
ten years from such commencement, by order constitute a Commission
which shall consist of a Chairman and such other members representing
the different languages specified in the Eighth Schedule as the
President may appoint, and the order shall define the procedure to be
followed by the Commission.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Commission to make recommendations to
the President as to-
(a) the progressive use of the Hindi language for the official
purposes of the Union;
(b) restrictions on the use of the English language for all or any of
the official purposes of the Union;
(c) the language to be used for all or any of the purposes mentioned
in article 348; (d) the form of numerals to be used for any one or more specified
purposes of the Union; (e) any other matter referred to the Commission by the President as
regards the official language of the Union and the language for
communication between the Union and a State or between one State and
another and their use.
(3) In making their recommendations under clause (2), the Commission
shall have due regard to the industrial, cultural and scientific
advancement of India, and the just claims and the interests of persons
belonging to the non-Hindi speaking areas in regard to the public
services. (4) There shall be constituted a Committee consisting of thirty
members, of whom twenty shall be members of the House of the People
and ten shall be members of the Council of States to be elected
respectively by the members of the House of the People and the members
of the Council of States in accordance with the system of proportional
representation by means of the single transferable vote. (5) It shall be the duty of the Committee to examine the
recommendations of the Commission constituted under clause (1) and to
report to the President their opinion thereon. (6) Notwithstanding anything in article 343, the President may, after
consideration of the report referred to in clause (5), issue
directions in accordance with the whole or any part of that report.
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