In a significant development, the Union Cabinet approved on Tuesday the Kerala government's proposal to change the name of the state to Keralam. “Union Cabinet approves renaming Kerala as Keralam,” Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a statement.The decision from the Union Cabinet came ahead of the Kerala assembly elections expected to be held in April-May.
Connect with our glorious culture: PM Modi on renaming of Kerala
PM Modi said the decision of the Union Cabinet on alteration of the name of Kerala to Keralam reflects the will of the people of the state. It is in line with our efforts to strengthen the connect with our glorious culture.
Kerala Assembly had adopted resolution to change state's name
The Kerala Assembly on June 24, 2024, had unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Centre to officially change the state's name to Keralam. Following the assembly resolution, the Union cabinet, in a meeting on Tuesday, is believed to have approved the state's name change from Kerala to Keralam, sources told news agency PTI.
It was the first cabinet meeting held at the recently inaugurated Seva Teerth, the new PMO building. The Kerala Assembly had passed the resolution for the second time because the Ministry of Home Affairs, which reviewed the first resolution, suggested some technical changes.
Addressing a cabinet briefing, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “With this first meeting at Seva Teerth, the Union Cabinet reiterates its resolve that every decision taken here will be inspired by a spirit of service to 1.4 billion countrymen and linked to the broader goal of nation-building. For us, constitutional values are an expression of the moral commitment that connects governance with the dignity, equality, and justice of citizens.”
Here’s what Pinarayi Vijayan said in state’s name change
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had moved the resolution, wanted the union government to change the southern state's name from Kerala to Keralam in all languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
Moving the resolution, the chief minister had said the state was called 'Keralam' in Malayalam and that the demand to form a united Kerala for the Malayalam-speaking communities had strongly emerged since the time of the national freedom struggle.
State govt had passed similar resolution in August 2023
But the name of the state is written as Kerala in the First Schedule of the Constitution, he had said. This Assembly requests the Centre to take immediate steps to amend it as Keralam under Article 3 of the Constitution and have it renamed as Keralam in all the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, Vijayan had said.
The House had passed a similar unanimous resolution in August 2023 and submitted it to the Centre, but the MHA suggested some technical changes in it.
