Assertion (A): According to People's Linguistic survey of India, India has the second highest number of languages.
Reason (R): The number of languages stands at or is 840.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

Correct option is A

The correct answer is (a) (A) is correct but (R) is not correct

Explanation:
• Assertion (A) is correct: According to the People's Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI), India is second only to Papua New Guinea in linguistic diversity.
• Reason (R) is incorrect: PLSI identified 780 languages in its major report, not 840.
• The Census of India recognizes much fewer languages due to the '10,000 speakers' threshold.

Information Booster:
• Papua New Guinea has over 800 languages.
• The 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution lists only 22 official languages.

Additional Knowledge:
Both correct (Option b & d)
• Incorrect because the figure 840 is inaccurate according to the PLSI data.
(A) not correct (Option c)
• Incorrect as India's high rank in language count is a sociological fact.

So the correct answer is (a)