Article 350B and 351 of the Constitution of India
Article 350B provides for a Special Officer for linguistic minorities, while Article 351 places a constitutional duty on the Union to promote and develop the Hindi language. Both provisions form part of Part XVII of the Constitution dealing with language.
Current constitutional position: Article 350B and Article 351 continue to form part of Chapter IV, Special Directives, in Part XVII of the Constitution of India. Article 350B was inserted by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956.
Article 350B - Special Officer for linguistic minorities
Article 350B establishes a constitutional mechanism for examining the safeguards available to linguistic minorities. The Special Officer is appointed by the President of India. The Officer's constitutional function is to investigate matters relating to safeguards for linguistic minorities and report to the President.
Text and meaning of Article 350B
Clause (1): There shall be a Special Officer for linguistic minorities appointed by the President.
Clause (2): The Special Officer must investigate matters relating to constitutional safeguards for linguistic minorities and report to the President at intervals directed by the President. The President must cause those reports to be laid before each House of Parliament and sent to the Governments of the States concerned.
This provision therefore creates both an investigative and reporting framework. It links the protection of linguistic-minority safeguards with constitutional oversight by the President, Parliament and the concerned State Governments.
Article 351 - Directive for development of the Hindi language
Article 351 imposes a duty on the Union to promote the spread of Hindi and develop it so that it can serve as a medium of expression for all elements of India's composite culture.
The Article also directs that Hindi should be enriched by assimilating, without interfering with its genius, forms, styles and expressions used in Hindustani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule. For vocabulary, it directs drawing primarily on Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages wherever necessary or desirable.
Relationship between Articles 350B and 351
Although both provisions appear in Chapter IV of Part XVII, they address different constitutional objectives. Article 350B concerns safeguards for linguistic minorities through an independent reporting mechanism, whereas Article 351 concerns the Union's responsibility for the spread, development and enrichment of Hindi.
Related constitutional language provisions
These Articles should be read in the broader setting of Part XVII. Article 350 permits representations for redress of grievances in languages used in the Union or the State, and Article 350A concerns facilities for mother-tongue instruction at the primary stage for children belonging to linguistic minority groups.
This page is an informational explanation of the constitutional provisions. For the authoritative text, refer to the Constitution of India published by the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.