The Assam Official Language Act,1960

The 17th December 1950
No.LJL.35/60. - -The following Act of the Assam Legislative Assembly 
which received the assent of the Governor is hereby published for general 
information.
Received the assent of the Governor on the 17th December 1960
ASSAM ACT No.XXXIII OF 1960
THE ASSAM OFFICIAL LANGUAGE ACT, 1960
(As passed by the Assembly)
[Published in the Assam Gazette, Extraordinary, dated the 19th 
December I  960]
An
Act
to  declare the Official Lanpiiat’c of the State of Assam.
•
Preamble. Whereas Article 345 of the Constitutjon provides that the
Legislature of a State may by law adopt any one or more of the 
languages in use in the State as the language to be used for 
official purposes of the Stat? and for matters hereinafter appear­
ing ;  *

It is hereby enacted in the Eleventh Year of the Republic of 
India, as follows :...
.Short title, ]. (i) 'this Act may be called die Assam Official Language
extent and A < £  | 9 6 ( j
commence­
ment.
(2) it extends to the whole, ot trie biate ot Assam.
(3) h shall come into force on such date as the Slate 
Government may, by notification, in the official Gazette, appoint 
and different dates may be appointed for different. official pur­
poses and for different parts of the State of Assam :
Provided that the date m dates appointed by the State 
Government in respect of any of tile parts oi the State ot Assam 
shall not be later than live years limn the date the assent to this 
Act is first published in the official Gazette.
OefiniUms. 2 -  1(1 t h i s  A d ’ u l l l “ s  t l l e l e is anything repugnant in the
subject ot context :
(a) “Autonomous District” means an area deemed as such
under paragraph 1  (1) of the Sixth Schedule to the
Constitution of India.
(b) “Autonomous Region” means an area deemed as' such
under paragraph 1  (2) of the Sixth Schedule to the
Constitution of India.
(c) “District Council'’  means a District Council constitu­
ted under paragraph 2 of the Sixth Schedule to the 
Constitution of indja.
(d) “ Mohkuma Padshah' 1 means a Mohkmna Parishad A ssa m  
established under the Assam Panchavat Act, 1959 XXIV
1959.
(e) ^ 1 4 Municipal Board” means a Municipal Board establi­
shed under the Assam Municipal Act, 1956 and shall Assam 
include Town Committees established under the said X V  of I S  
Act.
(1) “ Prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under 
this Act.
fg) “Regional Council” means a Regional Council cons­
tituted under paragraph 2 of the Sixth Schedule to 
the Constitution of India.
Official ian- 3. Without prejudice to the. provisions of Articles 346 and. 
guage foi 347 of the Constitution of India and .subject as hereinafter 
o ffi ci al provided, Assamese shall be used for all or any of the official 
u fU rf,°thc # Purposes of the State of Assam :
State of
Assam. ' ’  ,
 
3
Provided that the English language, so long as the use thereof 
is permissible under Article 343 of the Constitution of India, and 
thereafter Hindi in place of English, shall also be used for such 
official purposes of the Secretariat and the offices of the Heads 
of the Departments of the State Government and in such manner 
as may be prescribed ;
Provided further that,
(a) all Ordinances promulgated under Article 213 of the
Constitution of India ;
(b) all Acts passed by the State Legislature;
(c) all Bills to be introduced or amendments thereto to
be moved in the Stale Legislature ; and
(d) all Orders, Regulations, Rules and Bye-laws issued by 
the State Government under the Constitution of India 
or any law made by Parliament or the Legislature 
of the State
shall be published in the official Gazette in the Assamese lang­
uage.
Safeguard of 4. Notwithstanding anything in Section 3, only languages which 
the use of a i e j n u s e  immediately before (he commencement of this Act 
the6 A u8ton< >  s l l a^ continue to be used for administrative and other official 
moui Region purposes upto and including the level of the Autonomous Region 
and in the or the Autonomous District, as the case may be, until the Regional 
Autonomous Council or the District Council in respect of the Autonomous 
District. Region or the Autonomous District, as the case may be, by a 
majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and 
voting decide in favour of adoption of any other language for any 
of the administrative or official purposes within that region or 
district.
Safeguard of 5. Notwithstanding anything in Section 3, the Bengali lang- 
tJ 'ie U Sr , o f u a £e he used for administrative and other official purposes 
guauei'ulhe u Pt 0  a n ‘l iaduding the district level in the district of Cachar until 
district < - . f  the Mohkuma Parishads arid Municipal Boards of the district in 
Cachar a joint meeting by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the 
members present and voting decide in favour of adoption of the 
official language for use in the district for the aforesaid purposes.
The use «f 6. Notwithstanding anything in Section 3, any exami- 
official1 Ian- n a t.i o n . l i e l d .  by the Assam .  Public Service Commission 
guage in res-w h>ch immediately before the commencement of this Act used 
pect of exa- to be conducted in the English language shall continue to be so 
nduat io n  conducted I  ill such lime as the use I  hereof is permissible under 
ffie X am y c l a u s e  f2 ) o f  A r t i c l e  3 4 3  o f  l h e  Constitution of India :
Public Ser­
vice Commis­sion.
Provided that a candidate shall have the right to choose the 
language in use in the State of Assam, which was the medium 
of his University examination. »

4
various°iir,t!le  ' '^ u b.ie c t  t 0  th R provision of this Act, the State Govern- 
uistf.Ugroup. t n e n t may by notification issued front time to time, direct the 
use of the language as may be specified in the notification and 
in such parts of the State of Assam as may be specified therein :
Provided that
(a) the rights of the various linguistic groups in respect of
medium of instruction in educational institutions as 
laid down in the Constitution of India shall not be 
affected ;
(b) the State shall not, in granting aid to educational and 
cultural institutions, discriminate against any such 
institutions on grounds of language ;
(< ;) the rights to appointments in the Assam Public Services 
and to contracts and other avocations shall be main­
tained without discrimination on the ground of lan­
guage ; and
(d) in regard to noting in the offices in the region or district 
if any member of the staff is unable to note in any 
of the district language, the use of English shall be 
permitted by the Heads of Departments so long as the 
use thereof is permissible under Article 343 of the 
Constitution of India.
Pow ers to , Q> -  bhe Slate Government shall have the power to make 
m ake rules, rules for carrying mil (he purposes of this Act.
B. BAR DA,
Secy, to the Govt, of Assam, Law Deptt.

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