Union Cabinet Approves Renaming of Kerala as Keralam
The Union Cabinet chaired by the prime minister approved the proposal for alterating the name of state of Kerala as 'Keralam', Vaishnaw said
The measure comes ahead of the Kerala elections later this year. The Kerala Assembly had passed a resolution on June 24, 2024, to alter the name of the state.
Prime Minister Modi hailed the Cabinet decision, saying it reflected the will of the people of the state. “It is in line with our efforts to strengthen the connect with our glorious culture,” Modi said in a post on X.
In the next steps, the President will refer a Bill to the Kerala Assembly for expressing its views under Article 3 of the Constitution. After the receipt of the Assembly’s views, the Centre will introduce a Bill in Parliament.
The matter regarding the renaming of the state was considered in the ministry of home affairs. With the approval of Union home minister Amit Shah, the draft note for the Cabinet was circulated to the departments of law, legal affairs and legislative affairs which concurred with the proposal.
The Kerala Assembly resolution of June 24, 2024, had said: "The name of our state is 'Keralam' in the Malayalam language." States were formed on the basis of language on the 1st day of November, 1956.
"Since the time of the national independence struggle, there has been a strong demand for the formation of a united Kerala for the people speaking the Malayalam language. But in the First Schedule to the Constitution, the name of our state is recorded as 'Kerala'. This Assembly unanimously appeals to the Central government to take urgent steps as per Article 3 of the Constitution for modifying the name to 'Keralam'.”
Thereafter, the Kerala government requested the Centre to take steps to amend the First Schedule to the Constitution by altering the name of Kerala as Keralam according to Article 3 of the Constitution which provides for the alteration of names of existing states and also provides the process for doing so.
