Re: India's HDI Improves, Ranking Doesn't

[Anthony D'Costa <dcosta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There are two main national languages: Hindi and English.  A good number
of people don't speak either.  But they tend to be from rural areas from
the non-Hindi belt.  But Hindi is spoken by more people than English and would
easily run into several hundred millions.  Even 4% of Indians speaking English is
over 40 million. So a national language for unity is I think a bogeyman.  In fact
linguistic problems are less important than ethnic identity, although
the latter incorporates the language component sometimes.

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Anthony P. D'Costa, Professor
Comparative International Development
South Asian and International Studies Programs
University of Washington                        Campus Box 358436
1900 Commerce Street
Tacoma, WA 98402, USA

Phone: (253) 692-4462
Fax :  (253) 692-5718
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On Sat, 24 Jul 2004, Chris Doss wrote:

> --- Anthony D'Costa <dcosta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> This is hard to estimate but the numbers that float
> around, are 3-4% of
> the population, which is not a small number by any
> means.  English has
> been both a uniting factor (in a national sense) but
> also one that sets
> the rural-urban and class divide more forcefully.
> ---
>
> Given that knowledge of English is so low and the
> absence of a national language (I guess), what is the
> lingua franca in India? I mean, is there any language
> that people anywhere in India would be able to
> communicate in (like Russian in the fSU)? Without
> that, I imagine it would be very difficult to have a
> united country.
>
>
>
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