Ninety-second Amendment of the Constitution of India

The Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Act, 2003
Parliament of India
An Act further to amend the Constitution of India.
Citation 92nd Amendment
Territorial extent India
Enacted by Lok Sabha
Date passed 22 December 2003
Enacted by Rajya Sabha
Date passed 23 December 2003
Date assented to 7 January 2004
Date commenced 7 January 2004
Legislative history
Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha Constitution (One-hundredth Amendment) Bill, 2003
Bill published on 18 August 2003
Introduced by Lal Krishna Advani
Committee report Report of the Standing Committee on Home Affairs
Date passed by conference committee 5 December 2003
Related legislation
21st and 71st Amendments
Summary
Included Bodo, Dogri, Santhali and Maithali as official languages by amending the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution
Status: In force

The Ninety-second Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Act, 2003, amended the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution so as to include Bodo, Dogri, Santhali and Maithali languages, thereby raising the total number of languages listed in the schedule to 22. The Eighth Schedule lists languages that the Government of India has the responsibility to develop.[1]

The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution originally included 14 languages.[2] Sindhi was included by the 21st Amendment, enacted in 1967; and Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were included by the 71st Amendment in 1992, raising the total number of languages to 18.

Text

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-fourth of the Republic of India as follows:—

1. Short title This Act may be called the Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Act, 2003.

2. Amendment of Eighth Schedule In the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution—

(a) existing entry 3 shall be re-numbered as entry 5, and before entry 5 as so re-numbered, the following entries shall be inserted, namely:—
"3. Bodo.
4. Dogri.";
(b) existing entries 4 to 7 shall respectively be re-numbered as entries 6 to 9;
(c) existing entry 8 shall be re-numbered as entry 11 and before entry 11 as so re-numbered, the following entry shall be inserted, namely:—
"10. Maithili."
(d) existing entries 9 to 14 shall respectively be re-numbered as entries 12 to 17;
(e) existing entry 15 shall be re-numbered as entry 19 and before entry 19 as so re-numbered, the following entry shall be inserted, namely:—
"18. Santhali."
(f) existing entries 16 to 18 shall respectively be re-numbered as entries 20 to 22.[3]

Proposal and enactment

The Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Act, 2003, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 18 August 2003, as the Constitution (One-hundredth Amendment) Bill, 2003 (Bill No. 63 of 2003). It was introduced by then Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani and sought to amend the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.[4] The full text of the Statement of Objects and Reasons appended to the bill is given below:

There have been demands for inclusion of certain languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. It is proposed to include Bodo language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.

2. The Bill seeks to achieve the above object.

L.K. Advani, "The Constitution (One-hundredth Amendment) Bill, 2003".   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

The bill, as introduced, was referred to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs, which presented its report to the Rajya Sabha, recommending that the Bill be passed in the present form. The Report was laid on the table of the Lok Sabha on 5 December 2003. The Bill was debated by the Lok Sabha on 22 December 2003 and passed on the same day, with a formal amendment changing the short title from "One-hundredth" to "Ninety-second". During the consideration of the Bill in the House, L.K. Advani moved to include Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali in the Eighth Schedule. The amendment was adopted by the House, and a newly substituted section 2 provided for inclusion of Bodo as Entry No. 3, Dogri as Entry No. 4, Maithili as Entry No. 10, Santhali as Entry No. 18 and also for consequential re-numbering of the existing entries, accordingly.[4] The Bill, as passed by the Lok Sabha, was considered and passed by the Rajya Sabha on 23 December 2003.[4][5]

Speaking in the Lok Sabha on 22 December, Advani stated that the constitutional amendment to include Bodo was "in pursuance of a very valuable Memorandum of Settlement arrived at between the representatives of the Bodo community, the Government of Assam and the Government of India".[6]

The bill received assent from then President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam on 7 January 2004, and came into force on the same date.[4][7] It was notified in The Gazette of India on 8 January 2004.[4]

See also

References

  1. http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/EIGHTH-SCHEDULE.pdf  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. "The Constitution of India (1949)" (PDF). Lok Sabha Secretariat. p. 1189. Retrieved 5 December 2013.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. "Texts of the Constitution Amendment Acts" (PDF). Lok Sabha Secretariat. pp. 672–673. Retrieved 5 December 2013.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Constitution Amendment in India" (PDF). Lok Sabha Secretariat. pp. 337–338. Retrieved 5 December 2013.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. "Government to bring comprehensive legislation on languages". The Hindu. 24 December 2003. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  6. http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/786004/
  7. "The Constitution (Amendment) Acts". Constitution.org. Retrieved 2013-12-05.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links

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