NEW DELHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Union Cabinet has given its official approval to change the state’s name from ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralam’.
Following the Cabinet’s nod, the bill will be sent by the President to the Kerala Legislative Assembly for its consideration. The Central Government will proceed with further actions after seeking the Assembly’s opinion. Ultimately, the bill must be passed by the Parliament to make the name change official.
The move comes after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan moved a resolution in the State Assembly in 2023, urging the Central Government to change the official name to ‘Keralam’. The resolution requested that the name be updated in all languages listed under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. It was passed unanimously, with the opposition supporting it without any amendments. The state had also pressed for this demand through formal written communication to the Centre.
While the state is called ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam, it continues to be recorded as ‘Kerala’ in the First Schedule of the Constitution and in other languages. The state was formed on linguistic lines on November 1, 1956, and the demand for a unified ‘Keralam’ for Malayalam-speaking people dates back to the national freedom struggle.
The Kerala Assembly had unanimously requested the Central Government to take urgent steps under Article 3 of the Constitution to amend the name. With this Cabinet approval, which was briefed to the media in New Delhi by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the state’s long-standing demand has finally received the green light.
