In an important decision before the assembly elections to be held in the state, the Central Government has approved the proposal to change the name of ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralaam’. This decision was taken in the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said, “After receiving the approval from the Union Cabinet, the President of India will send a bill titled the Kerala (Change of Name) Bill, 2026, to the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala for conveying its opinion under the proviso of Article 3 of the Constitution of India.”
He said that after receiving the opinion of the State Assembly, the Center will complete the further process and the President’s recommendation will be taken to introduce ‘Kerala (Change of Name) Bill, 2026’ in the Parliament, so that the name of ‘Kerala’ mentioned in the First Schedule of the Constitution can be changed to ‘Keralaam’.
The Kerala Legislative Assembly passed this proposal for the second time on 25 June 2024. The proposal passed earlier was sent back by the Union Home Ministry with the suggestion of some technical amendments. Passing the amended resolution again, the state had sought to replace the name ‘Kerala’ with ‘Keralam’ in all languages (which are included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution).
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had presented this proposal in 2024. He had said that the state is called ‘Keralaam’ in Malayalam and the demand for unification of Malayalam speaking areas has been associated with this name since the time of the independence movement. He had said in the Assembly, “But the name of our state is written as Kerala in the First Schedule of the Constitution. This Assembly requests the Center to take immediate steps to change it to ‘Keralam’ under Article 3 of the Constitution and to change its name to ‘Keralaam’ in all the languages specified in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.”
Elections for the 140-member assembly in Kerala are likely to be held before May, although the Election Commission of India is yet to announce official dates. In such a situation, this decision of name change is also considered politically important.
It is noteworthy that this cabinet meeting was held in the Prime Minister’s new office ‘Seva Teerth’, which was the first meeting there. Earlier on February 13, a meeting was held in the Prime Minister’s Office located in South Block. If the legislative process is completed, the name ‘Keralaam’ will be applied in all official documents and communications of the Central Government, thereby formally recognizing the linguistic and cultural identity of the state.
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