Union Cabinet approves proposal to rename Kerala as Keralam

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to alter the name of the State of Kerala to 'Keralam' and initiated the constitutional process required to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution for renaming the State.

The Press Information Bureau (PIB) reported that decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Following the approval, the President of India will now refer the proposed Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the Kerala Legislative Assembly to seek its views under Article 3 of the Constitution.

The change has its origins in a unanimous resolution passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly on June 24, 2024, requesting the Union government to modify the State’s name from 'Kerala' to 'Keralam', the matter being the name used in the State's native language, Malayalam.

Under Article 3 of the Constitution, parliament has the power to alter the name of an existing State by law. However, any such Bill can be introduced in parliament only after it is referred by the President to the concerned State legislature for its views. Once the Assembly’s views are received, the Union government may proceed to obtain the President’s recommendation and introduce the Bill in parliament.

The cabinet approval marks the first formal step toward the proposed constitutional amendment.

In its 2024 resolution, the Kerala Assembly noted that the State was formed on linguistic lines on November 1, 1956, and that the name “Keralam” has long been used in Malayalam and during the independence movement to refer to a unified Malayalam-speaking region.

The Assembly unanimously urged the Central government to take steps to modify the First Schedule to the Constitution to reflect the name “Keralam”.

Following the resolution, the Kerala government formally requested the Union government to initiate the constitutional process. The Ministry of Home Affairs examined the proposal after which the draft cabinet note was circulated to the Department of Legal Affairs and the Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice. Both departments concurred with the proposal.

If parliament ultimately passes the legislation, the name 'Kerala' will be changed to 'Keralam' in the First Schedule to the Constitution.