New Delhi: A proposal to change the name of Kerala to Keralam was today approved by Union Cabinet at its first meeting in the new PMO building, Seva Tirtha in delhi. The decision comes ahead of the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections, likely to be held in April–May.
The Kerala Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution on 24 June, 2024, urging the Centre to officially change the state’s name from Kerala to Keralam. This was the second such resolution, after the Ministry of Home Affairs suggested technical modifications to an earlier proposal passed in August 2023.
CM Vijayan’s Proposal Gets Approval
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who introduced the resolution, had requested that the name be changed to “Keralam” in all languages listed under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
While presenting the proposal, Vijayan stated that the state is referred to as “Keralam” in Malayalam and emphasized that the demand for a united Kerala for Malayalam-speaking people dates back to the national independence movement. However, he pointed out that the name is currently spelled “Kerala” in the First Schedule of the Constitution.
With the Union Cabinet’s approval, the proposal now moves forward in the constitutional process required to formalize the name change.