Union Cabinet approves renaming of Kerala as Keralam

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal of Kerala government to change the name of the state to Keralam, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at its first meeting held at Seva Teerth, the new PMO complex.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the prime minister approved the proposal for alterating the name of state of Kerala as 'Keralam', Vaishnaw said.

After approval of Union Cabinet, the president of India will refer a Bill, namely the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala for expressing its views under proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution of India.

After receipt of the views of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the government of India will obtain the recommendation of the president for introduction of the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to alter the name of Kerala as 'Keralam' in Parliament, an official release said.

The Legislative Assembly of Kerala passed a resolution on June 24, 2024 to alter the name of Kerala to 'Keralam'.

"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 appeals to the Central Government to take urgent steps as per Article 3 of the Constitution for modifying the name as 'Keralam'", the Kerala Assembly resolution read.

Thereafter, the Kerala government requested the central government to take necessary steps to amend the First Schedule to the Constitution by altering the name of 'Kerala' as 'Keralam' according to Article 3 of the Constitution.

The Article 3 of the Constitution provides for alteration of names of existing states. According to Article 3, Parliament may by law alter the name of any state.

Further proviso to Article 3 states that no Bill for the purpose shall be introduced in either House of Parliament except on the recommendation of the president and unless where the proposal contained in the Bill affects the area, boundaries or name of any of the states, the Bill has been referred by the president to the legislature of that state for expressing its views thereon within such period as may be specified in the reference or within such further period as the president may allow and the period so specified or allowed has expired.

The matter regarding alteration of the name Kerala as Keralam was considered in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and with the approval of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the draft note for the Cabinet for the alteration of name of Kerala as Keralam was circulated to the Department of Legal Affairs and Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice for their comments.

The Department of Legal Affairs and Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice have concurred with the proposal for the alteration of name of Kerala’ as ‘Keralam’.