Linguistic minority
Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "Rights in the Indian Constitution"
Meaning
A linguistic minority is a group whose mother tongue is different from the main language of the state. Because states were drawn on language lines, almost every state has such groups. The Constitution protects them:
- Article 29 protects their distinct language, script or culture.
- Article 30 lets them set up and run educational institutions of their choice.
- Article 350A asks for teaching in the mother tongue at the primary stage.
- Article 350B (7th Amendment, 1956) creates a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities.
Example
An NCERT exercise gives the case of an Andhra society running Telugu-medium schools outside Andhra Pradesh. In a state where Telugu speakers are few, they are a linguistic minority, so Article 30 protects their right to run these schools.
Don't confuse with
- Religious minority: a minority based on faith, not language. Only religious minorities are notified nationally under the NCM Act 1992.