SSC
Under Article 350B of the Constitution, the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities is appointed by:
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Answer: Option D — The President
Detailed Solution
Article 350B provides that there shall be a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities, to be appointed by the President.
Duties of the Special Officer:
- To investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under the Constitution.
- To report to the President on these matters at such intervals as the President may direct.
- The President causes these reports to be laid before each House of Parliament, and sent to the governments of the states concerned.
Why the office was created:
- After the reorganisation of states on a linguistic basis in 1956, many people became linguistic minorities in the new states.
- The States Reorganisation Commission recommended the appointment of a special officer to protect their interests.
- Article 350B was added in 1956 for this purpose.
The Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities:
- The Special Officer is called the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities.
- The office was set up in 1957.
- Its headquarters is in New Delhi, and it has regional offices in Belagavi (Karnataka), Chennai and Kolkata.
- The Commissioner works under the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
The Commissioner monitors whether the states provide facilities for linguistic minorities, such as education in the mother tongue, the use of minority languages in government offices, and the translation of important documents.
Safeguards for linguistic minorities:
- The right to conserve their distinct language, script or culture.
- The right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
- Facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage.
- The right to submit representations in any language used in the Union or the State.
Importance:
In a multilingual country like India, the protection of linguistic minorities is essential for national unity and for respecting diversity.
Who is a linguistic minority:
A linguistic minority is a group of people whose mother tongue is different from that of the majority in a state or part of a state.
Why not the other options?
- ✗The Prime Minister, the Governors and the UPSC do not appoint the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities.
Quick tip
Remember: Article 350B = Special Officer (Commissioner) for Linguistic Minorities, appointed by the President (added in 1956).
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Important Articles & Schedules — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Important Articles & Schedules, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the important articles of the Constitution that exams test most often, the parts of the Constitution, and the twelve schedules, such as the Seventh Schedule (Union, State and Concurrent Lists), the Eighth Schedule (languages) and the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law). Questions directly ask which article or schedule deals with a subject, so make a table and revise it often. High-frequency examples include Article 112 (annual financial statement), Article 280 (Finance Commission), Article 324 (Election Commission) and Article 368 (amendment procedure). Remember that the Ninth Schedule was added by the 1st Amendment in 1951. Practise the important articles and schedules questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.