In a significant intervention on mother-tongue education, the Supreme Court has directed the Rajasthan government to frame a concrete policy for introducing Rajasthani as a subject in both government and private schools across the state.
The bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta said the State could no longer delay action on a constitutional promise tied to linguistic and cultural identity. The Court stressed that education in a child’s mother tongue was not a decorative principle sitting inside policy documents, but a constitutional expectation demanding implementation.
The judges directed Rajasthan to prepare a comprehensive framework aligned with the National Education Policy, 2020, and begin phased introduction of Rajasthani in schools. The language, the Court said, should gradually find space not only as a subject but also as a medium of instruction at foundational stages wherever feasible.
Questioning the State’s repeated stand that only languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution are being taught in primary and upper primary schools, the Court found the reasoning overly rigid and disconnected from reality. It pointed out that Rajasthani is already being taught in universities across the state, making the argument about lack of institutional acceptance untenable.
The judgment observed that academic recognition at the university level itself demonstrated that the language possesses adequate pedagogical legitimacy. The State’s continued reluctance, the bench remarked, reflected a narrow and technical approach rather than a meaningful engagement with linguistic rights.
The Court also made it clear that judicial restraint in matters of policy could not translate into indifference when constitutional guarantees are left unrealised. It said constitutional rights lose meaning when governments acknowledge them in principle but fail to operationalise them on the ground.
According to the bench, once the Union government itself has endorsed mother-tongue education through legislative measures and national policy frameworks, states carry a corresponding obligation to act with seriousness and urgency. Failure to do so, the Court noted, cannot be defended through administrative delay or executive hesitation.
Calling the existing situation a “vacuum” in an area of constitutional importance, the Court ordered Rajasthan to take affirmative and time-bound measures for introducing Rajasthani in schools in a phased manner consistent with educational requirements and constitutional values.
The matter will next be taken up in September for monitoring compliance.
The ruling came in a petition seeking recognition of Rajasthani as a language for imparting education in schools and also seeking its inclusion in the syllabus for the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers. The challenge before the Supreme Court arose after the Rajasthan High Court declined relief to the petitioners.
