Union Cabinet Approves Renaming of Kerala to 'Keralam'
New Delhi: The Union cabinet has approved the renaming of the state of Kerala to 'Keralam', Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced during a cabinet briefing on Tuesday (February 24). The move comes ahead of the assembly elections expected to take place in the state in the coming months.
In June 2024, the Kerala assembly had unanimously passed a resolution, moved by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, asking the Union government for the name change.
“The name of our state in Malayalam is Keralam… However, the name of our state in the first Schedule of the Constitution has been written as Kerala. This Assembly is unanimously requesting the Union Government to take immediate steps under Article 3 of the Constitution to change the name of the state to Keralam,” the resolution had stated.
Making the announcement at the briefing today, Vaishnaw said, "The renaming reflects a long-standing demand since linguistic reorganisation of states, as the state is known as ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam. The proposal will follow the prescribed legal process, requiring approval of the State Legislative Assembly, the Central Government, and Parliament."
With the cabinet's approval, the proposal will now go to the President of India who will refer a bill for the alteration to the Kerala legislative assembly under proviso to Article 3 of the constitution.
Once the state assembly passes its views on it, the Union government will obtain the recommendation of the president for introduction of the bill in parliament, as per an official release.
A similar resolution was also passed in August 2023 with CM Vijayan saying that the resolution needed to be reintroduced due to some technical issues. The earlier resolution sought amendments to the First Schedule of the Constitution (list of various states), as well as an amendment to the Eighth Schedule (list of official languages).
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