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The official standing of languages in Puducherry is governed by the 1963 assembly resolution to continue French as official language and the subsequent Pondicherry Official Language Act, 1965 which states under the heading "Official language of the Union territory" that Tamil is the language to be used for all or any official purposes in the Union Territory, while Malayalam and Telugu may be used in Mahé and Yanam respectively. The Act also stipulates that English may be used for any of the official purposes of the Union territory.

An official mention in Rajya Sabha Parliamentary debates during 2006 confirmed that the five official languages of Puducherry are Tamil, English, Malayalam, Telugu and French.^[1]

1956 Treaty of Cession

French was the official language of Puducherry under the Treaty of Cession 1956. French was also the official language of the Établissements français dans l'Inde (French India) and it remained as de jure official language of Pondicherry U.T by the Article XXVIII of Traité de Cession which states that,

Le français restera langue officielle des Établissements aussi longtemps que les répresentants élus de la population n'auront pas pris une décision différente
- The French language shall remain the official language of the Establishments so long as the elected representatives of the people shall not decide otherwise).

While the Official Gazette of Puducherry has a trilingual heading (in English, Tamil and French), it is published exclusively in English.^[2]

1963 Resolution by Representative Assembly

The de jure transfer of French establishments in India was on 16 August 1962. Then Second Pondicherry Representative Assembly had passed resolution by vote in May 1963 to express its desire to continue the official status of the French language.^[3]^{: 151–152} However, the same resolution expressed its want of the maternal languages spoken in the union territory to be considered along with Hindi and English as associative languages to French for all official and practical purposes.

Union Territories Act, 1963

For laying down the rules and regulations related to the union territories of India the act was passed in 1963.^[4] This act once again reconfirmed the assembly resolution^[3] that French shall continue to be used as an official language in Puduchuerry unless its legislative assembly does not decide otherwise.

Pondicherry Official Language Act, 1965

Considering the 1963 assembly resolution and 1963 act, the new additional official languages were recognized by The Pondicherry Official Language Act, 1965 (Act No. 3 of 1965).^[5] This act established that "the Tamil language shall [...] be the language to be used for all or any of the official purposes of the Union Territory. It states that Provided that the Administrator may by like Notification, direct that in the case of Mahe area, the Malayalam language, and in the case of Yanam area, the Telugu language may be used for such official purposes and subject to such conditions as may be specified in such notification". Finally, it states that "Notwithstanding anything contained in section 3, and from the commencement of this Act, the English language may be used for all or any of the official purposes of the Union Territory".^[6]

During the early twentieth century, Tamil gained equal status alongside the existing French language. After the merger with India, Telugu and Malayalam also obtained the same status although with some restrictions. Though the status of each languages varies with respect to each district, when communicating in between districts of different languages, generally English is used for convenience.^[7]^[8] The three official languages are:^[9]

Tamil: Language used by the union territory government, especially used when communicating within and between the Tamil majority districts of (Pondicherry and Karaikal) along with issuing official decrees.
Telugu: Used when communicating within Telugu district Yanam.
Malayalam: Used when communicating within Malayalam district Mahé.

Demographics

In 2001, the number of people speaking in each official languages was:

Tamil: 220,749 (In the Pondicherry and Karikal Districts)
Telugu: 31,362 (In the Yanam District)
Malayalam: 36,823 (In the Mahe District)
French: Above 10,000

References

^ India. Parliament. Rajya Sabha (2006). "Parliamentary Debates: Official Report, Volume 208, Issues 18-19". www.gstcouncil.gov.in. Council of States Secretariat. p. 263. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
^ "La Gazette de L'État de Poudouchéry The Gazette of Puducherry" (PDF). www.gstcouncil.gov.in. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
^ ^a ^b Animesh Rai (2020). The Legacy of French Rule in India (1674-1954): An investigation of a process of Creolization. Institut français de Pondichéry. ISBN 9791036549892.
^ "The Government of Union Territories Act, 1963" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^ "History of DISTRICT COURT OF PUDUCHERRY". Retrieved 12 June 2020.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "History (Pondicherry)". District Courts of Pondicherry. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
^ "English to continue as link language in Puducherry: Court". The Times of India. 14 September 2014.