In a ruling that carries weight far beyond the courtroom, the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday directed the Rajasthan government to introduce Rajasthani as a compulsory subject in all government and private schools across the state. The order, passed by a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, calls for a comprehensive, time-bound policy to make this happen, and demands a compliance report by September 30.
The verdict comes as a major win for millions of people who speak Rajasthani as their first language but have watched their mother tongue remain absent from school classrooms for decades.
Also Read: No, she doesn’t have to quit her job for you: Supreme Court’s blunt message to husbands
What the Court said
The bench made clear that this was not a matter of administrative convenience. It was a matter of constitutional rights. The court observed that the ability to understand and be understood in one’s own language is not merely a convenience but an existential right, one that is inseparably tied to a person’s ability to meaningfully participate in society.
The court also stated that instruction which children cannot adequately grasp due to unfamiliar language cannot, in any meaningful sense, be considered quality education.
The bench directed the state to take necessary steps to recognise Rajasthani as a local or regional language for educational purposes and to progressively bring it in as a medium of instruction, starting from the foundational and preparatory stages of schooling and moving upward to higher levels over time.
The court also took strong exception to the state government’s long-held position that only languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution could be taught in primary and upper primary schools. The bench called this stance unduly rigid and pedantic, noting that it ignored the language’s established academic presence across Rajasthan’s universities.
How the case reached the top court
The case originated from a petition filed by Padma Mehta and others, which also sought the inclusion of Rajasthani in the syllabus of the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET). Rajasthan High Court had dismissed the plea, holding that including language in education curriculum was matter of government policy beyond the scope of writ of mandamus.
The petitioners then moved the Supreme Court which agreed to hear broader constitutional questions at stake.
Although official language of Rajasthan remains Hindi under Rajasthan Official Language Act of 1956, the petitioners pointed out that Rajasthani is spoken by approximately 4.36 crore people according to the 2011 Census.
The petitioners further noted that while languages such as Gujarati, Punjabi, Sindhi, Urdu were included in the REET syllabus, Rajasthani had been left out.
A contradiction the court did not overlook
One of the more striking aspects of the judgment was the court pointing out an obvious inconsistency in the state’s position. Rajasthani is already being taught as a subject in several universities across the state, including the University of Rajasthan, Jai Narain Vyas University, and Maharaja Ganga Singh University. If the language is considered academically sound enough for university study, the court reasoned, there is no logical basis for denying it a place in school education.