The Official Languages Act, 1963 and subsequent amendments reflect India's approach to linguistic federalism by:
- Imposing Hindi as sole official language nationwide
- Allowing English to continue indefinitely alongside Hindi for Union purposes while States adopt their own official languages
- Prohibiting use of regional languages in government offices
- Requiring all States to use Hindi for inter-State communication
Answer: Allowing English to continue indefinitely alongside Hindi for Union purposes while States adopt their own official languages
Linguistic federalism framework: (a) Union level: Article 343 declares Hindi in Devanagari official language; Official Languages Act, 1963 allows English to continue indefinitely for official Union purposes, (b) State level: Article 345 allows States to adopt any language in use or Hindi as official language, (c) Inter-State/Union-State communication: Article 346 mandates English unless States agree to use Hindi, (d) Judiciary: Article 348 mandates English in SC/HCs; some States authorized Hindi in subordinate courts. Balances national integration (Hindi promotion) with regional identity (State language autonomy); pragmatic pluralism as constitutional philosophy.