ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Languages with official status in India

India is a big country with lots of people that speak different languages. Just like how you speak English or another language, people in India speak many different languages too.

But when a language is given "official status" in India, it means that it has been chosen to be used by the government for important things like laws, official records, and documents.

India has two official languages – Hindi and English. This means that the central government of India uses Hindi and English to communicate with the people. In addition to these two languages, different states in India also have their own official languages. For example, the state of Tamil Nadu uses Tamil as its official language, the state of Maharashtra uses Marathi, and the state of West Bengal uses Bengali.

So, when people in these states need to communicate official information to their government, they use their state's official language. This helps the government understand what people are saying and helps to keep everyone on the same page.

Overall, having official languages helps keep people in India connected and allows them to communicate more effectively with their government.