New data on the demographic profile of English language speakers in India confirms that English speakers are very much India’s elite. Hindi is both the most widely spoken first language and second language in India, while English is just the 44th most widely spoken first language even though it is the second most widely spoken second language in India. Speaking English is also clearly linked to education --- a third of all graduates could speak English. Despite the common perception that more people in southern India speak English as a bridge language (rather than Hindi), a higher share of residents of several northern and north-eastern states speak English than in the south. The one notable exception is Assam, which despite having low levels of income and little Christian presence has a relatively high proportion of English speakers.

Source: Mint May 14, 2019 06:33 UTC