"The neglect of languages and literature in school education impoverishes both the individual and the democracy." Critically examine.

Language is the medium through which every subject and every civic right is accessed. Article 350A and NEP 2020's emphasis on teaching in the mother tongue recognise this. Yet schools often treat languages and literature as "soft" subjects, ranked below science and maths. The statement largely holds, but it needs qualification.

Impoverishing the individual

• Weak foundations: ASER 2024 found that only 23.4% of Std III children can read a Std II-level text [1]. A child who cannot read cannot learn science either.
• Empathy and imagination: Literature teaches children to see through others' eyes and to imagine moral choices. Rote, exam-driven learning rarely builds these skills.
• Identity: Neglecting mother tongues weakens cultural roots, against the spirit of Article 351 and the Eighth Schedule.

Impoverishing democracy

• Informed citizenship: Public debate, critical reading of news and resistance to misinformation need advanced literacy, not just the ability to sound out words.
• Inclusion: Literature in Indian languages carries the voices of marginalised groups. Dialogue across languages was the Sahitya Akademi's founding purpose under Nehru, and it builds a plural national consciousness.
• Thin cultural infrastructure: A 2023 Parliamentary Standing Committee found that the National Akademis have an uneven regional presence and inconsistent rules for appointments and tenure [2].

Limits of the claim

• Livelihood logic: School hours are limited and entrance exams test science and maths. So poor families have good reason to put STEM first.
• Not wholly neglected: The share of schools where students use books other than textbooks rose from 36.9% (2018) to 51.3% (2024), and Std III reading has recovered [1].
• Quality, not quantity: The bigger problem is rote teaching of languages, not their absence from the timetable.
• Risk of politicisation: The same Committee proposed an MP on every Akademi Governing Council [2]. This shows that "promoting" literature can weaken the autonomy of literary bodies.

Science versus language is a false choice in early schooling, because language is the gateway to both. Three steps would help: use local-language stories as Class 1–3 readers under NIPUN Bharat, fund school libraries, and write down clear Akademi appointment rules that leave the choice to writers. Together they would nurture both the reflective individual and the thoughtful citizen that the Preamble's ideals of liberty of thought and fraternity assume.