New Delhi: The Central Government on Tuesday approved the proposal to change the name of the state of Kerala to ‘Keralaam’. The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This final move by the Centre comes ahead of the state’s assembly elections, which are scheduled to be held early this year.
Addressing a press conference, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav made the announcement, explaining the Cabinet’s decision. Following the Union Cabinet’s approval, the President of India will forward a bill, titled the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, to the Kerala State Legislative Assembly for its views under the provisions of Article 3 of the Constitution of India.
After receiving the views of the Kerala State Legislative Assembly, the Government of India will take further action and seek the President’s recommendation to introduce the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, in Parliament, to change the name of the state of Kerala to ‘Keralaam’.
The special thing is that on June 24, 2024, the Kerala Assembly passed a proposal to change the name of the state ‘Kerala’ to Keralam. The Assembly stated, “The name of our state is ‘Keralaam’ in Malayalam. States were formed on the basis of language on November 1, 1956. Kerala Piravi Day is also celebrated on November 1. Since the national independence struggle, there has been a strong demand for a United Kerala for the Malayalam-speaking people.
However, our state’s name is listed as Kerala in the First Schedule of the Constitution. The resolution stated, “This Assembly unanimously appeals to the Central Government to take immediate steps to change the name to ‘Kerala’ in accordance with Article 3 of the Constitution.”
Following this, the Government of Kerala has requested the Government of India to take necessary steps to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution by changing the name of the state ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralaam’ in accordance with Article 3 of the Constitution. Article 3 of the Constitution provides for changing the names of existing states.
The matter of changing the name of the state ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralaam’ was considered in the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India, and with the approval of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister of Cooperation, the State of Kerala The draft Cabinet note for renaming Kerala to Keralam has been sent to the Legal Affairs and Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice for their comments. The Legal Affairs and Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice has agreed to the proposal to change the name of the state of Kerala to Keralam.
