Our constitution has listed some languages as official languages. Earlier to this, English had been of the official language ever since the British held sway in our country. The constitution it self has been farmed only in the English language which is stipulated as a link language. There are many who demand that English also should be treated as an official language, though it is a foreign language, this is because many are more at home in that language than in their own mother tongue. On the other hand, there are others who argue that Hindi should be the official language because it is spoken by the majority of people. Hence, arises need to discuss the place of English in India.

There is much opposition in the south to the declaration of Hindi as the official language, on the ground that the southern states do not contain many who can speak that language, while at the same time they are able to have better knowledge of English. Without entering into the discussion of the merits and demerits of these languages and their suitability to be official languages, it would be better to discuss how English could be useful in modern India.

English is a world language. Scientific and technical knowledge has been growing by leaps and bounds in the west. Most of these are in English. Even countries, who carry on their research in their own language, convey their conclusions to the world at large in English. It is realized that through English only they can convince the world. Hence, English could be useful.

With in the country, non- Hindi people oppose Hindi because they would have to learn three languages, Hindi, regional language and English, while the Hindi speaking ones will study only Hindi and English. Hence, to avoid the controversy and also facilities better means of communication, English could be retained till the people themselves come forward to learn Hindi.