GUWAHATI: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, approved renaming the State of Kerala to “Keralam,” Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced, setting in motion a constitutional process that must still be completed before the change takes effect.
According to a Press Information Bureau statement, the next step is for the President to refer the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, to the State Legislative Assembly under the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution so the Assembly can express its views. After the State Legislature’s response, the Union government will seek the President’s recommendation to introduce the bill in Parliament; only after parliamentary passage and presidential assent would the name formally change.
The decision comes ahead of the Kerala Assembly elections, the dates of which the Election Commission of India has not yet announced.
The move follows a unanimous resolution passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly on June 24, 2024, urging the Union government to adopt the name “Keralam.” The Assembly re-submitted the resolution after the Ministry of Home Affairs reviewed an earlier motion and suggested technical modifications.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had moved the resolution seeking the change across all languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. He told the Assembly the state is known as “Keralam” in Malayalam and said the demand for a united Malayalam-speaking Kerala had roots in the national freedom struggle. The term “Keralam” is the traditional Malayalam name-derived from kera (coconut) and alam (land/place)—while “Kerala” is the Anglicized form commonly used in English.
Original Source: https://www.guwahatiplus.com/india/kerala-to-become-keralam-as-union-cabinet-gives-nod-to-name-change
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Publish Date: 2026-02-24 16:32:00
