The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to alter the official name of the State of Kerala to ‘Keralam’, initiating the constitutional process required to formally change the state’s name.
Following the Cabinet approval, the President of India will refer the Kerala Alteration of Name Bill, 2026 to the Kerala Legislative Assembly to seek its views, as required under Article 3 of the Constitution, according to a Cabinet release.
After receiving the Assembly’s response, the central government will proceed with introducing the legislation in Parliament with the President’s recommendation.
The proposal follows a resolution passed unanimously by the Kerala Legislative Assembly on 24 June 2024, which urged the central government to take necessary steps to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution to reflect the name ‘Keralam’, the term used in the Malayalam language to refer to the state.
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“The name of our State is ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam Language. States were formed on the basis of language on the 1st day of November, 1956. The Kerala Piravi Day is also on the 1st day of November. Since the time of National Independence Struggle, there has been a strong demand for the formation of United Kerala for the people speaking Malayalam language. But in the First Schedule to the Constitution the name of our State is recorded as ‘Kerala’. This Assembly unanimously appeal to the Central Government to take urgent steps as per Article 3 of the Constitution for modifying the name as ‘Keralam’.”, the resolution passed by Kerala Assembly on 24 June 2024 said.
Under Article 3 of the Constitution, Parliament has the authority to alter the name of any state through legislation, but such a Bill can be introduced only after the President refers it to the concerned state legislature for its views.
The proposal was examined by the Ministry of Home Affairs and vetted by the Ministry of Law and Justice, which concurred with the plan before it was placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.
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