RAS question
How many languages are currently recognized in the Eighth Schedule?
Correct answer: (C) 22.
The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India currently recognises 22 languages.
Explanation
The Eighth Schedule is the constitutional list of recognised languages, linked to Articles 344(1) and 351. The official Department of Official Language source lists 22 languages in the Schedule, so option C is the current count. This also explains why 14 is no longer correct: 14 languages were included at the start, and later additions expanded the list. The latest four additions are Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali through the 92nd Amendment Act, 2003. In an RAS question, the trap is usually between the original number and the present number, so the answer must be the current total: 22.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Twenty-four overstates the current Eighth Schedule list; the official list contains 22 languages.
- (B) Eighteen is below the current total because later additions, including Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali, brought the Schedule to 22 languages.
- (D) Fourteen was the original number of languages in the Schedule, not the present count after subsequent additions.
Concept
This tests the Indian Constitution topic of scheduled languages under the Eighth Schedule and Articles 344(1) and 351. It recurs in RAS because examiners often ask static constitutional counts where the original figure and the current figure differ.