Almost double the entire population of Great Britain speaks their language in India. A preliminary analysis of the
census data of 2001reveals that about 125 million Indians speak English.
Most of them, of course, speak it as the second language, next to their mother tongue. It was the primary language for
just 2.3 lakhs Indians, but as many as 86 million listed it as their second language and another 39 million as their third
language.
Hindi, as was to be expected, has secured prime position, with 551 million people speaking it. This means, almost half
the entire population of India speaks Hindi as their first language, or the second language. English is, no doubt, gaining ground all over the world as the primary language of communication. This is but natural in the age of globalisation and the computers. Even Russia, where it was difficult to find English speakers, now have 60 million (almost the population of U K) speaking that language of speakers in Bengali (91), Telugu (85), and Marathi (84). These figures are revealing. They point to the fact that the number of primary speakers of these major languages is growing in number, commensurate with the increase in population in the States where they are prevalent. Malayalam has 33.8 million speakers. That figure corresponds with the population of that state. No Indian language, the survey reveals, has lost its grip over its users. In other words, there is nothing for any Indian language to be apprehensive of in the coming years.